The Three Musketeers 3
by Dusty Kenyon
Summary: The second part to Three Musketeers 2. Starts a day later. A new villain is revealed and pasts are explained. Will the four heroes defeat this new foe and two of them will not make it out of this story alive. Please give reviews.
1. The Three Musketeers 3

**The Three Musketeers 3 **

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Prologue

The sun was mercilessly beating down on the town of Denoment, Italy. Fishmongers were yelling at the top of their lungs, telling all of the people of their fish. Old women with bad eyesight were hanging their finest wool blankets up for everyone to see. Horse's hooves clip clopped over the cobble stone pavement pulling a wagon of raw fruit as it went. Little girls played with their dolls in the meadows and boys played with their swords in the fields. Yes Denoment was a peaceful town.

A kindly old woman was busy laying out her vegetables when a shadow was cast over her. She looked up blinking in the sunlight. " Can I help you?" she said. She was now adjusting her glasses so she could see properly. Without warning the figure tossed the table forward knocking the lady senseless. It turned around and knocked a soldier off his horse. It mounted the horse with great speed, so great that no one knew what had happened till they saw the person grab a torch and set a nearby house on fire. Everyone was in panic as the person continued to burn everything in its way. Soldiers were galloping in by the dozens but the figure was also so good with a sword that he knocked them all over. Then the figure reared its horse and one soldier caught a glimpse of the figure before the horse's hooves contacted with the man's face. The horse and rider fled the area setting more houses on fire.

The fire raged through the city like the wind. Soon everyone was left without clothes, food, or shelter. Some little girls helped the solider up. Many men and women crowded round the soldiers asking who it was. Suddenly the solider remembered the face he had seen and said, " I know who it is." The crowd became as silent as death.

" Who was it?" a man asked. The Solider straightened up.

He wiped the blood from his face " It was Mickey Mouse!" He cried.

Chapter 1 **A Grave Misunderstanding**

The wind whipped past Mickey's face as he raced through the woods. Dead twigs snapped beneath Frank's hooves. Donald was pulling up beside him. Minnie was coming up beside him on his right. They were laughing. Finally Minnie bounded in front of them and halted. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy followed suit. " Well boys," Minnie smirked, " looks like I won again." She smiled and turned to continue on the path. Greg was breathing hard from all the running that he had done. The air soon became mist " How do you do it Minnie?" Goofy asked. He and Greg had pulled up next to her. Minnie smiled and jeered. She loved making the boys respect her. Not that they didn't before. They trampled onward into the mist and rounded stones appeared.

" Where are we Mick?" Donald asked. He was the coward of the group and was being cautious of where they were heading. He gulped and looked at Mickey who was just as curious as he was.

" I don't know." Mickey exclaimed. He looked around. Stooping low he looked at one of the stones sticking out of the ground. He squinted. It was hard to see but he knew what it was. " It's a gravestone." He said. " We're in an old Italian graveyard." He looked around and the mist seemed to fade more. They moved forward at a retarded state.

Goofy was now looking intently at the grave wondering what they said. " Hey guys." He said. " Look at this." Everyone jumped down from their horse and walked to the grave Goofy was standing if front of. Mickey got down on one knee and looked at the grave.

" That's odd." He said. " This grave belongs to Donald's dad." He looked up at Donald. Donald oddly looked as if he was trying hard to forget something. Then he opened his eyes wide and knocked the grave over. " Donald! Why did you do that?" Mickey asked.

" We should not be here." Donald said. " We are cursed now. We must leave before we get bad luck." He jumped onto his horse and whipped the reigns. In an instant he was gone. The others blinked and followed Donald's lead.

Mickey didn't catch up to Donald before three miles. " Why did you kick the grave over?" he asked. Donald looked quickly over his shoulders to see the others.

He turned to Mickey. " It was going to fall over anyway." He stated. This was true. The grave had been very loose and would have knocked over with a feather. " I just finished the job. Listen Mick. Some things are better off left undisscused. What happened here?" The woods were severely burned. Some fires were still going on but everything else was encased in black soot.

People were wandering about, moaning and crying over their losses. Kids held onto their mothers crying and in nothing but tattered and ripped clothes. Whatever had happened here it had left everyone and everything destroyed.

One kid looked up and screamed, " IT'S HIM!" Instantly a crowd surrounded them and pulled Mickey to the ground, pulling and tugging at him. " Let's show him how it felt." one said. " Let's burn him like he did to our village." Another said. Finally Donald and Goofy had broken through the crowd to Mickey.

" What do ya got against Mickey?" Goofy asked. Mickey was shaken by the tussle.

" He set fire to our village and killed some of us too." A woman said. She had black cheeks and was burned on the arm.

" He didn't do that." Minnie said. " He was with us the whole time. She was holding Mickey by the forearm, ready to pounce if the crowd got wild again.

" Show us then." A man explained. " Do you have evidence?" They crowd jeered at this. Minnie stood bewildered looking at the man. There was no way to get proof. " See the old elder. He knows all. If he says that monster is innocent then he is and we'll leave you alone."

" Where can we find this elder?" Mickey asked. The man glared at him and pointed at the hill. Sure enough there was an old burnt-up house at the top. It had a crocked roof and part of the siding was falling off. He gulped and he and the others went up to see the elder.

Dead branches littered the ground. Goofy looked back at the others. Mickey and Minnie were in step with each other but Donald was lagging behind. He kept looking left and right as if expecting to find a frightening image or person. His head was up against the collar of his shirt. Goofy was puzzled why Donald was acting like this. BAM! Goofy ran right into the side of the house. Rubbing the side of his head Minnie and Mickey passed into the elder's house.

Goofy had to duck low to enter. The house was cramped and some fire was still burning on the floor. The place was in shambles. Bookcases lay splintered and burnt on the floor. Pieces of the roof had fallen in and different bottles were broken everywhere. " He's not here." Mickey said lifting up a bookshelf to check. Suddenly a pair of hands appeared over the top of it. Mickey yelled and slammed the bookshelf down.

The thing flew in the air and struck right in Donald's rear end. He yelled and ran around the room knocking more things over till finally Goofy had pulled the thing off. Donald started plucking the needles out of his butt, wincing after each one was pulled. Goofy turned the thing over to examine it. All he saw was a bunch of needles. " Gee." He said, " wonder what this thing i.. yaaaaaaaa!" He dropped the thing on the floor. It rolled over and jumped to its feet. It spun around to everyone and they all stared at it. It was a small porcupine with a green x going across it's nose. He wore a multicolored necklace around his neck

" What business do you have here?" he asked. It kept keen eyes on them. He looked from one to the other. He stopped for a while when he saw Donald, who was still plucking needles out of his butt. " Is that you, Donald?" he asked. He put his fist down and picked up a strange stick that had weird markings all over it and that went over his head. He waddled forward to see better. Donald looked up and nearly hit the man. He backed up a bit as the man stood on his tiptoes to see his eyes.

Suddenly the man gasped and hit Donald on the head with his staff. " You got some nerve coming back here." He said. He kept hammering Donald with his staff harder, and harder, and harder.

" Hey stop!" Mickey said, " What has Donald done to you?" Mickey stepped in front of Donald to protect him from the porcupine's blows.

" He is not welcome here." The porcupine said. " He is nothing but a nuisance and a fugitive. He should never have returned." The porcupine slid under Mickey legs and continued to hit Donald. Mickey pulled him off of Donald.

" What do you mean 'returned'?" Minnie asked. She was crouching down at Donald's side tending to the bruises he had sustained. Shakily, Donald got up.

" He's right." Donald said. " I shouldn't have returned." He thrust his arm away from Minnie catching her off guard. He rubbed his bottom and hung his head low.

" Probably didn't tell you why he's not welcome, eh?" the porcupine said. "He's as sneaky and conniving as his father this one." He turned on his heels and went over to a strange looking table with a pile of books at one end. It was a circular table with three legs and a weird glowing ball sunk in the middle of it. He stretched out his paw to the top half of the ball and instantly all of the light pouring in from the holes vanished, leaving them in complete darkness except from the glow of the orb. Mickey moved closer to the table, wary not to stray to close in range of the porcupine's staff.

" What do you mean by Donald being sneaky like his dad?" he asked. He sat down on a pile of wood. Goofy sat down beside him. Minnie had successfully dragged Donald out of the shadows and sat him down on the floor next to her. The porcupine turned on them quickly. His eyes, however, were showing pity and sorrow.

" You do not know his past, do you?" the porcupine asked. He put his staff next to the books and raised his head to their eye level. " It is a sorrowful one I'll tell you. We have not forgotten what it was. We have thought Donald was dead. I will only share this tale if Donald allows me to show it." He turned to Donald.

" No, don't tell them." Donald pleaded. The porcupine frowned.

" I asked if I could show them." He said. Without warning he rammed Donald on the head with his staff. Instantly Donald froze. His eyes centered and stared off into space. He lay down and instantly the world buzzed. It was as if a million bees were buzzing around everyone's ears. The ball in the table started to spin and grow. The ball kept growing and spinning till it stopped when it was the size of a modern day big screen TV. It was huge. The buzzing stopped and the ball began to show a picture.

It was fuzzy at first but then it sharpened and Minnie could see a small boy playing with a ball. Not even one years old, he rolled it around and bounced it. He giggled now and then. His mother was behind him picking flowers and stuffing them in a basket. Mickey was first to realize what they were seeing. They were looking into Donald's past.

Chapter 2 **A Murderous Past**. 

Donald rolled his ball and giggled with glee. He rolled in the grass till his feathers were green. Mrs. Duck watched her son play smiling a small smile. She kept looking up at the road to see who was coming. Donald came over to give his mother a hug but she pushed him away and kept watch on the road. Mickey thought to himself why she was so mean to Donald. She smiled when he was playing. Why push him away?

Soon, she got to her feet. An old man was running down the street with a map case under his shoulder. The label read 'Plans for the Garelis Denoment.' She waved nicely to the man. He waved back. She turned to make sure Donald wasn't looking. As the man passed she reached into her basket and drew out a pistol.

She aimed at the man's heart and pulled the trigger. The man was dead. She stowed the pistol back in the basket and ran to the man. She took the case and stowed it also in her basket. Goofy gasped. She had just killed an innocent old man.

Donald turned to his mother. He had red berries smudged all over his face. His mother took him by his hand and hurried off. Then the picture faded and the ball shrunk back into the table. Donald blinked and shook his head roughly. He blinked again. Everyone except the porcupine was looking at him. The porcupine sighed.

" Now you see what his past was like." He said. " Excuse my manners. I believe I haven't told you my name. It's Poky." He hopped off of his chair and strode over to Donald.

" Sir, why is Donald's father not welcome?" Goofy asked. Poky turned to him.

" He, as his wife, was another mass murderer." He answered. " A curse was put on his grave after we killed him and his wife. If anyone walked past the grave without either kicking, spitting, or shooting it would be cursed and hung."

" That explains where Donald got his temper." Minnie said. Donald glowered at her. She turned from him.

" You killed him." Mickey said looking down at Poky. " When did you do that? Why did you do that?" Poky sighed.

" I hoped this day would never come." He said. " Once again I will have to show you." He turned around to Donald, but Donald was ready. He jumped back before the staff could hit him.

" No more." Donald shouted. " I don't want them to know my past. I don't want to relive that night either. It has haunted me ever since. I can't relive it again." He had tears in his eyes. Poky looked down and then said.

" You must relive it only once more. Then it will haunt you no more." He smacked Donald on the head as before and once again Donald blanked out. The buzzing started again and the ball grew. This time they saw Donald sleeping in his crib. Outside in the hall his parents were talking.

" They know what we did." Donald's father said. " They know that we ruined the Garelis Denoment. They will be here shortly."

" Then we shall fight." Mrs. Duck said. " We may have not been able to kill the king but we can kill his subjects."

" Shhhhh!" Mr. Duck said. " I hear them." Sure enough there were voices drifting up from the downstairs. Light was dancing outside the window. Banging and clashes came from outside. Mr. and Mrs. Duck both ran downstairs, Mr. Duck pulling out a huge musket on the way. Suddenly Mickey felt himself fall into the memory. He was now part of Donald's past. Oddly he and the others just glided along following Donald's parents. When they reached the bottom of the stairs they gasped at what they saw.

Mr. Duck was shooting at the men that came through the door. Mrs. Duck was stabbing the men that came close to her husband. The men carried pitchforks and knives, and cages filled with snakes, spiders, and other dangerous creatures. One man rushed upstairs holding a cage of snakes. Another followed with a gun in one hand and a cage in the other.

Donald was crying in his crib. He wanted the loud noises and scary images to stop. The men burst into his room letting the snakes and spiders run loose. One man sets fire to Donald's toys and pushed his crib over, laughing with joy all the while. Donald screamed and cried even more after he hit the ground. A snake slithered up to him and brought his jaw down. Donald rolled away only to fall on a spider. The spider hissed and snatched at Donald. Donald screamed and cried the loudest that he could. A man picked him up and ran from the room.

Just before the man could go down the stairs Donald bit him. The man yelped and grasped his hand tight. Fire burned in his eyes as he looked at the distraught Donald on the floor. " So that's what you want, eh?" he said. " Well you can just go down the hard way." He picked Donald up and threw him over the railing. Donald flew through the air, momentarily stopped crying for the shock of falling. He hit the ground hard. He had tears in his eyes again as someone tied his hands up.

Donald was thrown outside where a makeshift guillotine stood. Mr. Duck was already bowed at it and the blade came rushing down. Is head fell into the basket. Donald sobbed now. The chief spoke. " Whoever goes past his grave and doesn't kick, spit, or vandalize it in some way will have a curse put on them.". Now it was Mrs. Duck's turn. The blade came swishing down just as before. Her head was now with her husband's.

Donald was poked in the back with a pitchfork as he wept uncontrollably. The people had solemn faces as he was led forward. Some showed sympathy for him. He was placed at the chopping block. His head was forced down. He could see the heads of his parents in the basket. They were bloody and deformed. His tears grazed their cheeks. The chief raised his hand to pull the lever. Goofy had tears in his eyes. The chief grasped the lever. Minnie was now crying on Mickey's shoulder. The chief tugged at the lever. " STOP!" Mickey shouted. He was staring at Donald. Everyone turned to look at him. He was now permanently part of Donald's past.

Chapter 3 **Past Revelations**

All eyes were on the three figures that had appeared into their midst. The chief was paused with his hand still on the lever. One pull and Donald is dead. Mickey looked everywhere. Minnie and Goofy did the same. Were they looking at them? " Don't pull that lever," Mickey pleaded, " He is innocent." If he was in Donald's past he had best help out with the situation.

" So you are with these heathens, " the chief said. The chief had let his hand go of the lever. Donald was still crying with his head on the block. Mickey edged closer to Donald. Minnie had let go of Goofy's arm, which she had been clinging to. There was a pitchfork lying on the ground. If she could just get it she could help get Donald free.

" He is just a baby," Mickey pleaded. He inched even closer to Donald. Goofy looked at Minnie. She had bent down, unnoticed, and reached for the pitchfork. Mickey was closer to Donald then ever. He was inches from him, and the chief none the wiser. " You can't kill a baby."

Mickey was now in easy reach of Donald. The chief pondered this. Murmurs rose in the background. Minnie had her hands on the handle. Goofy looked at Minnie then at Mickey. " Ohh!" Goofy shouted. All heads turned to them. " Mickey's distracting them while Minnie is going to save Donald. Good plan Mickey! Make sure no one finds out though." All of the people rushed at them. The chief raised his hand and pulled the lever but Mickey was too fast for him. He grabbed Donald and ran headlong into the rush.

Fire flashed everywhere as Mickey rushed through. People tore and grabbed at his shirt. He was poked all over and was stumbling. Finally he felt every hand leave his body. Donald was tucked in his arms crying again. He opened his eyes to see Minnie furiously swinging the pitchfork she had found. They were slowly backing away from the mob now. Mickey, seeing his chance ran, like the wind into the woods. Goofy and Minnie held the mob off as long as they could but they were quickly over-taken. Minnie dropped her weapon and grabbed Goofy's hand. "Run!" she shouted.

They ran for six hours till they finally settled down, the mob had left them and they were tired. Mickey took his coat off and wrapped Donald in it. Donald lay peacefully snoozing. " How did this happen?" Minnie asked. " One minute we are looking at Donald's past and then we are in it." She stared at Mickey and slumped down into the roots of a tree. Mickey remained kneeling over Donald and Goofy just stood up with his hands in his pockets.

" Well, if this is Donald's past we should get him to a nice warm house." Mickey suggested. A twig cracked behind him. He paid it no mind. " We should keep going till we get to France, the place where I met him. Get him to an orphanage." Minnie spun around. Looked behind herself for a moment and then redirected her attention to Mickey. Goofy looked around too. He felt like there was something there.

" We should leave." Goofy suggested, " Minnie take Donald." Mickey stood up and Minnie crossed over to Donald and picked him up. He was half awake. Goofy unhooked his sword and flashed it behind him. He spun on the spot looking wildly around. " Run," he whispered. He was deadly serious, Mickey could see it. He too drew his sword. Minnie walked behind Mickey at a fast pace. " Run." Goofy said. There was panic in his voice and Donald was stirring. More twigs cracked and the sound of paws came swiftly into the glade. It came from all around. Flashes of white streaked around them. More twigs broke and suddenly, to Mickey's horror, an abundance of howls came up from the flashes of white. More white flashes joined and Goofy shouted, "RUN!"

Mickey and Minnie ran up the slope of the glade but before they had reached the top four white streaks came pelting down on them. They backed up to the middle where there were twenty-five more streaks running around. Goofy was slashing his sword with all of his might but to no avail. Finally the flashes stopped and the wolves stood still, growling with their teeth bared and stomachs empty. Minnie was panicking and Donald was crying again. The wolves closed in and snapped at their dinner. Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy were so close together that they could not move. They were outnumbered two to twenty-eight.

Suddenly a light appeared on the horizon. And a group of people came charging down. The wolves howled and sped off. The men made sure that the wolves were gone before checking on the group. " Are you alright?" the man said. They nodded. His eyes glanced the baby in Minnie's arms. " What are you doing with a baby out here? These woods are dangerous. Have you never heard of the Forksten woods before?"

The Forksten woods. They were Frances eastern border. They had come to France after all. It was usual for men to hunt white wolves here too. They drove them into Italy. " We want you to take this baby to an orphanage in Dijon." Mickey said. " It needs good care and we really want you to take him instead." He handed the baby over to the man and with a jerk Mickey understood that he would.

" Come men." The man cried. " We are done here. We have an errand to run in Dijon." He turned on his horse and he galloped away. The men left too and they were left alone without Donald.

" Why take him all the way to Dijon?" Minnie asked. " That is so far away." She looked at Mickey and Mickey just smiled.

"That is where Donald's first orphanage was." Mickey answered. Then they slumped onto the ground, buzzing sounded, and they went blind for a moment. Mickey fell to the floor and lay there with his arms flailing.

" Mickey!" a voice said. Mickey couldn't see. " Minnie! Goofy! Wake up you guys!" Mickey saw the blindness leave him. He lay staring at a lop-sided roof and dingy old walls. He looked to his left to see Donald shaking Minnie awake. His eyes were wide with fear. The fear he had seen in Donald's eyes as a baby and suddenly it clicked.

He was back in the elder's house. He was in the present. They had returned from Donald's memory after he had awakened. He looked again at Donald the fear was still there as he sat over Goofy trying to wake him. The fear was from that night, twenty-eight years ago. " I do not know why that happened." The elder said. " I am sorry for that."

" That's okay." Mickey said leaning up. He finally understood why Donald was so scared of the world. And suddenly, for a moment, Donald seemed like the bravest person that he knew.

Chapter 4 The Stranger 

Mickey got to his feet. Minnie got up after a while. " What happened to Donald after that night?" Minnie asked. Goofy sat up and hit Donald in the head.

Pokey cleared his throat. " Donald went to an orphanage, as you requested. The orphanage was burnt down and the kids moved to Paris. Donald wandered out one day after seeing a certain puppy called Pluto. His owner came along who was Mickey. Then, I'm sure you know the rest." He sat down and Goofy stood up. He swayed a little and finally got stability.

" So, the reason we are here is to find out why everyone suspects that I…" Mickey started

" Committed arson on our town?" Pokey said. He was oddly relaxed, as if he had known why they had come here before they had arrived. He noticed this and said. " I saw the whole thing from my window." Mickey looked around. The house was burnt up, but not all burnt. He was so far away from the village that he would have at least had time to run before the fire got here.

"Well I know you're innocent." Pokey said. " Let's go down and explain that a person that looked like you had done it." He went to the ball again and laid his hands on it. He closed his eyes and pushed on it. Blue rings ran up and down his arms and one by one entered the ball. Slowly the ball glowed bright blue and a shadow of the ball rose into the air. It floated there for a few moments and lifted out of the house. Pokey picked up his stick and led the way back to town.

After they had explained everything to the people, they seemed to forgive Mickey. Their horses were returned to them and everyone gathered to bid them good-bye. Minnie smiled and laughed as people came to hug her. Donald was left out in a corner looking as depressed as ever. She stretched out her hand to comfort him and was stopped short as an axe flew right in front of her hand, just grazing the tips. Goofy looked out and the town ran screaming in different directions as more axes fell from the sky. A stranger in a black cloak was preparing to throw another when Goofy charged at him, followed closely by Mickey. Minnie was ducking under a cart and Donald was hiding in a barrel. Pokey stood there examining his claws.

The man fled in a whirl of his cloak and Mickey and Goofy raced after him. Minnie grabbed Donald and hurried after them. They ran through the woods at top speed following the man's every step. After a while the stranger came to an open field with nothing but rocks ahead. The stranger leapt onto the rocks and climbed over the edge. Goofy, not stopping ran full speed at him. Mickey was first to notice that the man had jumped over a piece of ground instead of running right up to the rocks and climbing. He grabbed Goofy's garments and tried to stop him but it was too late. The ground caved in under Goofy and he plunged into a tunnel. Mickey let go of Goofy and floundered about to grab something to pull himself up. He looked down to see Goofy howling into the darkness. He grabbed and grabbed but all he caught was dirt that kept spilling into the hole. Finally he fell headlong into the darkness. A boulder was pushed over the hole blocking their exit and Mickey was out of sight.

Minnie and Donald arrived to see the stranger put the rock over the hole. He looked up and saw them. He franticly climbed up the rest of the rocks and went over the side. Minnie and Donald ran to the rock and tried to push it off. It was too big. They couldn't get it off. Minnie was sobbing. She ran up the rocks to catch the man. She pulled out her sword and jumped over the edge, prepared to hit the man that had killed her husband. He wasn't there. The only suspicious thing was a giant, black rock and more rocks. She hit the rock breaking it into five pieces. He still wasn't there. Donald came panting up shortly. She slumped to the ground and sobbed her heart out. Donald picked her up. " Come on," he said. " We had better go now." He led her away. He too was sad that his friends were gone. He knew he would never see his friends again. They were dead. Never to come back.

As they disappeared over the edge. The rock put itself together again. This time into a giant, black blob. It swiveled around and melted. It drained down the rocks and combined at the bottom. It took the shape of a man. A tall mouse with a long nose and a cunning smile. It pulled out a coin with the letters PB next to a curved line with dots next to each curve. He pushed the blob and it filled the coin. " It is done. The goof and Mick are in the tunnel system now. You go from here now." Mortimer said. With that he melted into a blob and disappeared to his new master.

Chapter 5 **In the tunnel system**

Mickey wailed as he plunged further into the darkness and hurtled around the bends and turns of the tunnel. Finally he slammed hard onto the cold stone floor of something. He twisted and turned as he flew through the air and hit a wall. He slumped to the floor and shook his head. He was in a dimly lit room with huge gapping holes in the walls of this circular room, and standing near one was Goofy.

Goofy was staring intently on the carvings above the hole. He hadn't even noticed that Mickey had come tumbling headlong into the room. " What are you looking at Goofy?" Mickey asked still rubbing his head. Goofy didn't move. "Please don't tell me that you have a secret past too Goofy," Mickey was thinking. He walked over to him and looked at him. He didn't look like Goofy at all. There was no vacant expression in his eyes and the he actually seemed to be thinking! Since when does Goofy think for himself? He usually hurts himself that way. Mickey backed away. This guy was clearly smarter then Goofy and he could be more dangerous too. Without warning, Goofy turned and grabbed Mickey's shoulder.

" Come on!" he said. " I have something I want to show you." And just like that, he flung Mickey into the hole and he jumped in after. This time Mickey went down feet first which was a lot nicer then having your face bash into every wall when you turned. He glided down every slope and turn and soon he noticed the walls got damper. Where were they heading he thought? He turned his head to look at Goofy. Mickey turned again to face forward and got splashed in the face by water.

They were now sliding in a water tunnel. Their ankles were only grazing the water. Quickly a flood of more water came from ahead and this time their knees were only just above. Another flood of water came down from someplace closer. Finally Mickey found himself swimming in water. He was scrambling through the water as another flood almost drowned him. The water was coming from some crack in the ceiling. He looked around but it was too dark to see anything. He drew his sword and waited for another flood of water to come. And from the ceiling a few inches in front of him, water spewed out. He quickly thrust his sword into the fissure there with all of his might. He pushed up and a deluge of water pounded on top of them, drowning them. Mickey swam up with his sword in front of him chipping at the stone. Finally he broke through and was pushed up with the water. He took deep breaths and looked around. Millions of people were staring at him. He looked at where he was and saw that he was in the center of a huge elaborate fountain. Most of the water had escaped after Mickey had created a huge hole in the center of it. His pushed himself out of the hole and wadded through the shallow water. He climbed up the steps and was greeted by a small pug dog. He had a mad look on his face and Mickey could tell that he was in trouble.

Chapter 6 **The House of King Julius**

" What are you doing in my fountain and what did you do to it." The pug shook a finger at Mickey and turned purple in the face. Mickey rung out his cloak and looked down at the pug. For such a short pug he had a big temper.

" Well, you see, me and my friends were going to investigate a Beagle Boy clone attack when…" Mickey started. The pug slammed on Mickey's foot and smacked him in the shins (It was as high as he could reach).

" What does this have to do with you RUINING MY FOUNTAIN!" the pug shrieked. He roared and was quickly silenced by the people gasping and whispering. Mickey turned to see Goofy walking through the water in a regal manner and wearing a fine outfit. He was not wet, or filthy, or stupid. He was an aristocrat. He stepped out and was instantly greeted by fine ladies. They kissed his fingers and was led by the pug, who was wearing a stunned expression. " Since when have you been hanging out with the Duke Feliz con mas?" the pug asked.

Mickey looked down at him. " What?" he asked. He was as surprised as the pug to see Goofy a different person. Now that he thought about it, he had forgotten about Goofy until he came out of the fountain.

" You have brought the most celebrated Duke in all of Spain back to this country." The pug said. " And right to his majesty King Julius." The pug jumped and grabbed his hand and shook it fiercely. He then scurried away to Goofy who was sitting in a huge crowd. Mickey pushed and shoved his way through the crowd. Goofy was sitting in a big comfy chair with millions around him, listening to him, and drinking in his knowledge. Goofy had changed. Before Mickey could get his hands on Goofy, Julius whisked Goofy away down a corridor. The crowd broke up and went their separate ways. Mickey went after Goofy and the king.

Mickey was turning a corner after them when he caught some of their conversation. " Now why have you returned at this dark hour?" Julius asked Goofy. He was walking slower now that he assumed that everyone had gone and they were in secret. " Last time I saw you, you were being carted away to France as a wee little boy. Now look at you. You've grown. Have they returned? Have you come to warn us? Have you discovered the location of the PB organization! Please let us know. Are we in grave danger again?" The king had gotten on his knees now and was looking at Goofy who had turned to look down on him.

" In order" he said. He spoke with a more regal tone. He looked around and said, " Yes last time I was in good old Spain I was being carted to France, I have grown, I believe they have returned, I have not come to warn you, I have not discovered the location of the PB organization, and I do believe not only Europe is in trouble this time," He paused and leaned in close, " The whole world is at this weapon's mercy now." Julius turned white and sank back on his knees. Goofy opened the door behind him and walked in. Julius was left there contemplating this. Mickey bit his lip and snuck behind a tapestry waiting for Julius to leave. He didn't. Instead he closed his eyes and took out a cross, kissed it, and put it back in. In an instant the lights dimmed and the corridor went dark. He could see nothing, only hear. He pushed as hard as he could to the wall behind the tapestry. He felt an evil presence in the room suddenly.

" Well" a voice said. It was the most sinister voice he had heard in his life. It was deep and bold. " He is here, I feel it."

" He is here." Julius said in a shaky voice. " He knows nothing of the PB organization. He has not come here to warn us but by accident." Mickey could sense the other man was getting even angrier.

" So I will finish it myself shall I!" the man roared. " You are pitiful. Useless. I guess your friend, Eduardo, will pay for your defiance."

"No! Please, all right I will do it." Julius sounded defeated. The other man laughed a high- pitched cold laugh.

" I will not believe you for a minute." The other man said. " You have a spy in this very area. Not just any spy. You have placed Mickey Mouse behind the tapestry to my left thinking I wouldn't know and he'll save Goofy for you. You forget I can sense a person for miles, I can read men's thoughts; I can feel their emotions. And right now Mickey is thinking that how could he know this and a lot more questions that I'm sure he will never get the answers too." The tapestry was torn off of the wall and Mickey was blasted into the air. He was stationed there unable to move and could see nothing but darkness. He looked around. He could only make out Julius's pale skin in all of the darkness. The other man was gone. So Mickey thought. He was shaken violently and something overcame him. He could not breathe or see. Something sharp stabbed him and he felt the blood leave his body. He was blown to the ground and fell into the deepest sleep of his life.

Mickey woke in the morning. He was lying on the ground of the corridor. Goofy was sipping his drink in a chair beside him. " Good morning, Mickey." He said. He put his cup down on the table beside himself. He looked grave. Then again he had changed since last night. Mickey tried to get up but found a bandage on his chest keeping him from bleeding or bending. " Did you hear? King Julius was murdered last night in this very hall. You were kept here so that they could see if you had done anything. You see your position could give away if you had killed him or not. My own thought."

Mickey got up. " What happened to you Goof?" Mickey asked. " You've changed since we came here. Why did you change?"

" First I prefer to be called either Duke Feliz con mas or Duke Feliz. And if you would like me to put my condition in terms you can understand then I shall. My memory is back and better then ever. Now what did happen, Oh yes it all started on a nice April day."

Chapter 7 An Apple for Life 

" Well I was only two and I was one of the smartest kids in the country. I was already in third grade. Yes I know a two year old that is in third grade became a man that can barely count to three. Well I was young and hanging around my parent's apple orchard. I loved to play there everyday. I named every tree that was there. I had a favorite I called Bonita." Duke Feliz (Goofy) said. He was stirring his drink with a spoon and Mickey had managed to sit down in a chair next to him. He was still in pain from his wound.

" So I was frolicking in the meadows when a huge storm hit. I ran to my home to wait it out but it never ended. The storm was the PB weapon. It lasted for three weeks. Finally I was so mad that I ran outside one day and said 'Hey storm please stop so I can play beneath Bonita's leaves and frolic in the meadows.' The storm roared and all of a sudden an apple hit me right in the temple. I fell down unconscious and the storm raged even more. The next thing the whole apple tree Bonita flew at me and squashed me like a bug. I had gotten what I wanted but the results were not satisfying. I was beyond help and was carted off to France for extreme medical help. I lost a memory and my brain was damaged. The Spanish writing in the cave sparked my memory but I am afraid that if I wander out of Spain my brain will become once again as it was. Futile"

Duke Feliz got up and paced the room. " I do not believe you killed King Julius but I do assume that you had something to do with it." He turned to Mickey and pointed to the tapestry lying on the ground, which Mickey had been lying on.

Mickey looked at it and remembered the previous night in the corridor. The other man. The man who Mickey couldn't see. Next to the tapestry was a spear with blood smeared on it. Maybe Julius had tried to kill the man but struck Mickey instead. That would explain why the man had dropped him. " Where is Julius's body?" Mickey asked. Goofy turned to him.

" That's the mystery now isn't it." Duke said. " The body was never found. Too tell the truth, I only kept you here to have you all to myself. I shared my past now you tell me what happened in this hall last night." Goofy towered over Mickey and all escapes were lost. Mickey was cornered in the chair he now sat in. So Mickey explained everything, how he followed them, how he had heard of the man's orders to Julius, and finally the attack on his life. " Goofy rubbed his chin. " That man could not have gotten in last night unless there is another way into this fortress. All of the ways are guarded. Then again he could have gotten in the same way as we did." Goofy paced around and went down the hall to the grand hall they had popped in the day before. Goofy strode over to the cracked fountain and took out his sword. He thrust it into the floor around the hole in the middle and chipped away at it. Mickey stood looking at him. Goofy was hard at work.

After a while he jumped up and beckoned Mickey to him. Around the hole Goofy had cleared the entire floor revealing more weird symbols around it. Goofy was so happy he could have jumped up to Saturn. " Do you see? These symbols are saying something. They mean something. The fountain is here for a reason. To block the hole. Someone or some organization has a direct pipeline the all of the major countries in Europe but why? That is what I hope to discover by going down the hole and following it to its source." Goofy jumped feet first into the hole. Mickey made an attempt to clamor in but Goofy made a motion for him to stay. " You are wounded and too weak to travel. Stay here and recuperate first. Make sure no one covers up this hole and when you are fit again follow me." With that he ran down the tunnel and climbed up the slope out of sight. Mickey did as he was told and stayed there. His only concern was where Goofy was going exactly.

Chapter 8 Back to the Homestead 

Minnie and Donald trudged on the road back to France to regroup at the castle. Donald was looking down at his feet kicking all of the rocks in his path. He was very sad by the events that had happened yesterday. In the middle of the night their horses had come lose and run off on them so they were left to walk. Minnie was just as sad as Donald that Goofy and Mickey were gone. The gang just was nothing without them. " Don't worry Minnie." Donald said. He had mustered up the courage to finally say something to lighten the mood. Minnie glanced at him and smiled. He was thoughtful and was nice even if he said the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Donald patted Minnie on the back. " They'll be alright just you see. Now come on I'll race you to the top of the hill." Donald and Minnie clamored to the top of the hill laughing. Donald came in first but his victory was short lived. At the top of the hill you could see Paris and all of it including the castle and the view was horrible. The city was changed. It was black and smoke and smog rose everywhere. Flying black birds with purple eyes and green slime dripping from their beaks swarmed the skies. Giant wolf like things were running through the streets leading the citizens in chains behind them. One citizen cleverly got free of his bonds and ran for his life up the road Donald and Minnie were on. Minnie pulled Donald behind a rock as the prisoner came near followed by a wolf. The citizen looked back for a moment and that was all it took. The wolf turned into a glob like thing and arched through the air and reconstructed in front of the prisoner. The citizen yelled as the wolf opened its mouth wide and chewed his bones and flesh to nothing. The wolf turned and slunk back to the city, which was now a terror zone.

Minnie gasped. " What happened here?" She got up from behind the rock and surveyed her kingdom with sad eyes. As if losing Mickey wasn't enough now her beloved kingdom was under someone else's rule. Donald came to her side and looked down on the scene.

" Where are Clarabelle and Daisy? I hope they are all right." He said. True they had come back to regroup with them. Where were they? How had the musketeers let this happen? Where they all dead? Donald raced headlong into this catastrophe hoping to find his wife. Minnie tried to stop him but all hope was lost. She couldn't let herself be caught. She stayed by the rock hoping for his return. She prayed he would be safe. She took her provisions out and set up camp a little way down the backside of the hill, out of sight by the city.

Donald stealthily ran through the city. He made sure not to be found by the wolves or spotted by the birds. He ran across the bridge to the musketeer headquarters. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the building. It was a pile of rubble. The building was a heap of brick and the stables had been burned. The corpses of the horses inside of it were everywhere. Donald sank to his knees and cried, cried as if this was the first time in his life, as if he was trying to cry a river of tears, as if he was trying to tell the world that he was the saddest duck alive. He put his hands over his eyes and fell back on his knees. Daisy was gone. Clarabelle was gone. The musketeers were over. The end of the world had come and France was the first to feel it.

Donald got up and limped over the bridge and jumped up on top of the railing. He looked down bellow at the water. It ran black with gas and evil. "There is nothing left for me to live for." He thought. " Daisy, Clarabelle, Goofy, Pluto, and Mickey are all dead. Maybe I should join them" He put his arms out and jumped off the bridge into the water. He hit the water and inhaled as much water as he could. He lost his breath and he sunk like a rock to the bottom and went up to his maker.

Chapter 9 The End of It All 

Minnie had a fire roasting and chicken cooking. Donald had been gone for nine hours and she was getting worried. She wrapped the blanket around her tighter. The wind was picking up and she was cold. The night air was still and stale. It was almost too quiet. She took her stick ad poked the chicken. It fell off of the pan and fell into the fire extinguishing it. She sighed if only Mickey was here. She reached into the recesses of her cloak and pulled out a picture of her and Mickey on their honeymoon. He was so handsome. She cried and her tears hit the picture. She touched it with her hand to just pretend that she could feel him and bring him back to her. She cried again and her tears fell onto the picture again.

Suddenly a giant green glowing glob fell on it and Minnie spun around to see one of the evil wolves behind her. The birds were circling the clearing and cawing. Wolves were closing in and they were joined by guards that were wearing strange flexible armor and four sided staffs. They closed in on her and up in front of her rose a very tall, very handsome duck. It couldn't be. She was looking at Donald's father.

" Hello queen Minnie." He said. " I believe that you have noticed that your wonderful city has been made even better by the PB organization with the 'PB' weapon. Well we will now take you into custody. Guards." The men closed in and Minnie quickly thought of a plan. She kicked the hot coals and chicken at Mr. Duck and tried to run while he was distracted. Mr. Duck dodged the coals and the chicken literally went right through him. He roared and rose over Minnie. He turned into a blob like the wolves had and encased her in his confines. He reverted back to normal and said " She has been captured inform his superior, the PB, that we have one of the four that he has requested and that I will bring her to him at once. The group melted and slinked of to do their duties and Minnie was now within the hands of the PB organization.

Chapter 10 The War Approaches 

Mickey's wound had healed and he could now bend over. He had taken to roaming the corridors and listening to the walls. Goofy had left a month ago. It was September going into October. He had become worried that Goofy was captured by the mysterious PB organization. Since the king's supposed murder the security had been bumped up and since the days ended later this month everyone was to be in his or her chambers by 6:00. Mickey was no exception. He was locked in his bedroom unable to get to the fountain. He didn't know if the hole was even there. He paced his room worrying if he would ever get in it again.

Another month passed and the security wasn't getting any looser. October 11th had come around and Mickey was nowhere nearer getting in that hole. He was sent to his bedchamber as usual but this time when the door was closed he jabbed a fork he had stolen in the slit between the doorframes. The lock did not click as usual and the guards took no notice of this. Mickey sighed a huge sigh. He waited a little and grabbed his garb and sword. He snuck out the door and stole away to the great hall. He panted and ran to the steps of the fountain. His chances were shattered. The hole was covered up by solid concrete. " No" he said. He wadded into the water and sunk to his knees. " I lost Goofy, I lost Donald, and I lost Minnie. Pluto where are you?" He sobbed. " My luck has run out. I lost everything I care about. Why did you go Pluto? Maybe I…was…not cut out…to be. a …musketeer." He took his coat off and looked at the symbol on it. " This was never meant for me, it belonged to someone else. I was never cut out for this. I am better at being a king. This is not my war too fight." With that he dropped his coat into the water and stood up. He unhooked his sword and tossed it in to. He turned and wadded back out and went straight to his room.

Mickey was sitting in the hall sipping his drink as usual. Guests mingled around him and Mickey paid them no notice. He sat there looking weary. It was October 17th and all was calm. Then the ground shook violently. Everyone was thrown to the ground and all tables crashed to the floor. Mickey got up. The lights went out and the room went cold. Black goop was seeping through the walls and ceiling. Mickey was so scared he couldn't move, as could anyone else. The door burst open and an assortment of weird black animals ran in followed by weird men with black skin, flexible armor, and four sided staffs. Mickey out of instinct reached for his sword but it wasn't there. He had thrown it in the fountain only feet away.

He didn't have time to get it so he ran with everyone else hoping to escape this disaster. The walls were turning black and Mickey ran wildly through the corridors. He ran onto the balcony and slammed the door shut and locked it. Just as he stepped away from it Black muck covered it and spilled onto the balcony. Mickey turned to see the worst sight he had ever seen. The entire village and countryside, foothill and hayballe, had been turned to black and altered to an evil place. The soldiers and wolves ran everywhere. Birds circled the skies and water ran black. " What happened."? Mickey said not expecting an answer but he got one.

" We have changed it to fit our views Mick. Hey, where's your uniform anyway?' Pete said. Mickey turned to see Pete behind him. He was just as the goo, able to take a different shape.

" How can you do that?" Mickey asked. He backed up to the ledge and looked shocked at Pete.

" Well because we were freed by him. He only saw fit that we have his powers as to not mess up his plans again. You see, we like to call all of us "rehabilitated" people of the PB organization after our founder and leader. He goes back a long way he does. He gave me the idea to kidnap Minnie at the opera in the first place. Then he rounded up Magicia and Mortimer and gave us that plan too. Of course we all died after that incident and he brought us back to do this one last thing for him. And if we don't well let's say I won't retain a definite form" He stretched his hand to grab Mickey but Mickey ducked and Pete blasted off part of the railing. Pete then lunged at Mickey. Mickey dodged but fell right into the hole in the railing Pete had made. He teetered on the brink of falling. " See, these powers rule!" He thrust a last blow at Mickey and Mickey fell, fell down three miles to the disaster the PB organization had unleashed on the world.

Chapter 11 The Headquarters of the PB 

Minnie was thrown into the cell and tied to the ceiling. She kicked her legs in the air but couldn't touch the floor. " Let me go." She screamed. Her dress was in tatters and this was the first breath of air she got since they took her.

" They usually don't let you go." Voice over in the dark corner said. Minnie spun around in the air to see. Out of the shadows came a small pug dog with a bent crown on his head and hip marks over his face. " I'm king Julius of Spain and you are?" He went as far as he could to Minnie before the chain around his ankles and chest stopped him.

" I'm queen Minnie of France." She said. The pug dog was so short she had to look directly down to even notice him.

" Figures, you disobeyed him too, huh. Wouldn't let your country fall to him." Julius sat down and crossed his arms " I'm in here cause I retaliated on him with a spear. He grabbed a mouse and was going to kill him when I stuck him. The spear went right through him and he gobbled me up instead. What did you do to him?"

Minnie looked stunned. Could this mouse have been Mickey even for the slightest chance is him. " Do you know what the mouse was called? Did he have a goofy looking dog with him?" she asked. She was hoping, praying that it was.

Julius scratched his head and said. " I believe Duke Feliz con mas said his name was Mickey. Of course the Duke did suffer a bad brain damage and supposedly his name was changed to Goofy." Minnie laughed. They were alive. They were in Spain. " Why are you so happy?" A sudden running up the steps interrupted their conversation. A tall, broad- chested, black thing with white pupil less eyes stood in the doorway. He entered and closed the door behind him.

" Welcome Minnie, I've been waiting for you to come." The man said. " I hope you are happy with the renovation of your country while you were out." He paced up to Minnie and looked at her with his cold, merciless eyes. " Was Julius bothering you? He has been a naughty boy he has." The man strode up to Julius and whispered something in his ear. Julius froze and went pale. " Now to business. Where are your friends? Where is Mickey."?

Minnie looked at Julius ho was mouthing " Don't even think or tell him about it."

The man looked back and glared at him. Julius hushed.

" Spain it is then." The man said and turned back to Minnie. " Thanks for helping Minnie. It just so happens that Spain was about to be 'blotted'. I'll have my men go there at once." The man snapped his fingers and in walked a solider.

" Yes, your honor." The solider said. He bowed low and the man stood straighter.

" My little friend here says that it would be wise to send Pete and a battalion to Spain and blot it." He waved his hand for the man to leave.

" As you wish, Phantom Blot." The solider said and he ran from the room. Minnie stared. The Phantom Blot founded the PB organization. The weapon that changed France was his power. She was looking at the man who had caused misery to so many people, and liked it.

" Yes actually I do like to cause misery." The Blot said. He turned to Minnie. He winked at her and melted through the floor. Minnie turned to Julius who was gone too. She had let him down and now Julius and Mickey and Goofy were going to pay for it.

Chapter 12 Ludwig to the Rescue 

Donald opened his eyes. The world was blurry and he could only make out shapes. Two heads were spinning in his view. " Donald, wake up." One of them was saying. The image sharpened and he saw Daisy and Clarabelle. He was in a cramped, steel room.

" I think he's coming around." Clarabelle said. Donald sputtered and at least a gallon of water came rushing out as Daisy pushed on his chest. He shook his head and sat up. Clarabelle put her hand on his back to keep him steady. " What happened?" Clarabelle asked.

" By where we found him I would say he drowned." A man said. Donald and Daisy looked up at Ludwig who was sitting in a chair with many whirling and flashing buttons. Levers where above his head and in his hands. Ludwig was pushing pedals with his feet and the steel room moved to the right a bit. Donald got up with his shaky legs and walked to the window in front of Ludwig. He was under water.

" What is this place?" Donald asked.

" Ludwig says it's a submarine." Daisy said. She came up to him and stood beside him. Clarabelle followed suit.

" How is this thing even moving?" Donald asked. Every head turned to Ludwig. Ludwig looked at them and sighed.

" Ok, confession time." Ludwig said. He turned again to them. " I'm from the future. Ok. I never meant to get caught up with Pete or the Phantom Blot. I came back in time to see the French Revolution but something went wrong and I ended up here. However I landed in the Phantom Blot's hands and he took the time machine and forced me to do what Pete wanted. So this submarine is actually a machine of the future."

Daisy and Donald and Clarabelle looked at him. " Who is the Phantom Blot?" Daisy asked.

" The Phantom Blot" Ludwig stated, " Is the cause of all this pain. The reason we are fleeing the city through the rivers. Who changed the world and will keep changing it till he rules every living things mind. He started the PB organization after himself. He took some of himself and put it in his soldiers and the people he resurrected from the dead. He only took his loyal followers back. I'm sure Donald knows all about him."

Donald looked at him. " I didn't hear of him." He stated. Then he thought, what if he got his hands on Minnie, he had never seen her again after he jumped off the bridge. Then he thought what if he had gotten Goofy and Mickey too. " We have to save them. He's bound to have them somewhere"

" That's why we are heading west." Daisy said. " That is where his castle is. We have the same idea that you do."

" There is a secret underwater cave that leads to a little spring. Then we have to travel more then a thousand miles and the worst part is that he has the ground attack covered by guards and other vial creatures. We can't fly into it because he also has the sky covered by different birds and flying beasts."

" And even if we are able to tunnel under it he has reinforced floors and sensors that can detect even the slightest movement." Daisy concluded. Donald frowned. He may never see his friends again. He let one tear fall. Daisy hugged him. " Don't worry, we'll save them. Right Ludwig."

" You bet." He said. " After all those years helping him I have a little inside secrets. The Blot is a clever man, if you can call it a man or even anything. See seven years ago, when Goofy found us in the library, we were searching for the coordinates of his castle. See, his castle changes positions every three days. Right now if I'm correct, which I am 100 of the time, it should be on its third day. We need to get there before midnight when it will change positions again. Now I have these uniforms right here that we can use to get in." He held up a couple of costumes that looked identical to the ones the soldiers wore. Donald, Daisy, and Clarabelle slipped them on and Ludwig steered the ship up the hole and popped out of the hatch onto dry land. They ran as the sun set to meet their destination.

Chapter 13 Mickey's Renewal 

Mickey woke up after the carriage hit a bump. He looked up and saw daylight flowing through a small hole in the wall. He was riding in a carriage that was being driven by a guard. The carriage went over every bump and turn making Mickey bump his head and get nauseous. He rolled up in the corner wondering how this had happened. All he remembered was falling off the tower and Pete laughing at him. " This is what I get, ' he said to himself. " I was a bad musketeer, a bad husband." He cried silent tears and felt bad about himself.

Suddenly the carriage stopped and he heard shouting. He turned to where the guard would be sitting and he clearly heard the clash of a sword and the crack of a whip. Mickey was flown backwards as the carriage took off at full speed. After thirty minutes or so the carriage stopped an the driver got off of the driver seat and walked around to the back and opened up the door. Mickey blinked in the light. He looked at the man and sighed. It was Goofy. He was smiling and breathing heavy. " Come on." He said. " We're almost there. We'll have to walk the rest of the way." He turned to leave but Mickey didn't move. " Well, come on now we have to get going." He wasn't the smart man he was in Spain. He was normal again. Mickey frowned.

" I'm not coming." He said. " I don't do that stuff anymore." Goofy frowned.

" Now what happened to the mouse I used to know?" Goofy asked. " You were fearless. The bravest person I know."

" That was before I found out, I'm not a real musketeer. I let you down. I let them seal the hole. I let Donald and Minnie down. I don't deserve to go." He slumped back in his little ball and looked away.

" But you are a musketeer." Goofy said. " You didn't let me down. I don't care if they sealed the hole. You were recuperating. You did the best you could I think. And you couldn't help it if the tunnels separated us. Look at it; everything was out of your control, anyone's control. Now come on let's say we save our friends."

Mickey looked up at Goofy. Goofy was holding out his hand for Mickey to take. Mickey smiled and took the helping hand. They sped off into the east to take the challenge that lay before them.

Chapter 14 Minnie's Rescue 

Minnie had been chained up for a day without food or anything. She was on the brink of death and all she could do was think of what she could have done different. She was breathing heavily and the room was going blurry. She closed her eyes but they wouldn't open no matter what. Her breathing was slowing and she was going away.

Ludwig and he gang had cleared the front gate and were inside. Now they had to keep their disguises and find Minnie. The palace was huge. The courtyard was at least three miles long. They walked casually to the front door, which stood black and ominous in front of them. Ludwig turned. " Now once inside there will extremely little light. The Blot and everything else he has created or " modified" can see in the dark so there will only light where there is writing since they can't read print. The Blot can but not the others." So he opened the door and they entered. The place was as Ludwig said complete darkness except for two torches on the wall and a window at the end of the hall that let in the moonlight.

They walked carefully through the hall making sure not too bump into anything. Clarabelle almost knocked over a vase, Donald did. Daisy was tripping over her feet every few seconds. Ludwig seemed to be the only one capable of maneuvering without the light. " Hurry." He said. " We must save the captives before the castle moves or we might end up in a different continent." They quickened their pace.

Goofy ducked behind a rock and motioned for Mickey to go to the rock next to him. Mickey crept up next to Goofy liked he motioned too. They pecked over the rocks to choose their next strategy. Two guards were patrolling the area. Goofy rubbed his head and tried to think. The guards could take any shape or form so this would be difficult. " Here's the plan." Goofy whispered. " Now this strip of land is the only thing connecting the castle to land and the rest is surrounded by lava so I say we climb under the bridge to the other side." Goofy pulled out eight sharp star shaped pieces of metal with straps on them. They slipped them on and crept to the edge of the bridge and slowly climbed under it.

The heat was intense. Lava bubbled ten feet below. They climbed under it for some time, slowly at first and then picking up the pace a bit. Goofy put his hook down and dropped, only hanging on by his foot hooks. He yelped and the guards bobbed toward them. They dripped down from above and appeared as birds before them. With a loud screech one flew at Goofy. The other flew at Mickey and it was a mixture of weird goop and fur.

Donald was creeping along a corridor alone. They had split up to find Minnie faster. He heard voices from somewhere. He walked to the nearest door and put his ear to it. " So I don't think Mickey will be coming out of it anytime soon." Pete joked. The room erupted with laughter.

" I'm really going to miss him. I'm just glad that I could at least impersonate him for once and get him in trouble." Mortimer joked. Once again the room erupted in laughter.

" Well I carted away his wife. The Phantom Blot is most pleased. She did have a huge impact on his downfall. Get it?" Mr. Duck said. Laughter went again.

" Hey I helped ruin France too. Don't start taking all the credit." Magicia snapped. No laughter came this time. Mr. Duck harrumphed and sipped his drink.

" Now my husband has done a lot of work in his life." Mrs. Duck said. " He killed more people at age twelve then I did my entire life." Everyone laughed. Donald counted his fingers. Pete. Magicia, Mortimer, his parents (they were with PB). Everyone evil they had faced was in that room except for the Beagle Boys but they were henchmen, not worthy of recognition. He was tuning to go when he heard another voice.

" Well I distracted them for all of you." The voice said. " Without my help they would have been on their way back to France before you could finish "blotting" it. Before you could find the tunnel. Before even you could rally your troops."

" Oh please." Pete said. " Don't flatter yourself, Pokey." Donald was stunned. Pokey, the Porcupine from Italy, was part of the PB organization. The glowing thing with the ball. It must have been a trick he learned from Magicia. That must have been the way he contacted Mortimer. He must have spread the rumor about remaining Beagle Boy clones. It all made sense. He ran down the hall and opened the first door he saw not caring if he got caught or if he was killed. He needed to cry, let it out. His parents were villains, his friends were lost, a friend a traitor. He flung himself onto the floor of the room and cried. Someone in the room came over and picked him.

Mickey and Goofy soared through the air on the backs of the birds. Goofy was silently crooning them to obey him. They flew past every window in the palace looking for Minnie. Finally in the tallest tower they found her. They jumped from their birds onto the ledge and broke through the glass. Mickey rushed to Minnie who was almost dead lying on the floor. Mickey cut through the cuffs and held her in his arms. He did have something to live for after all. She regained life. Goofy popped open his canteen and downed it into her throat. They had made it in time. Minnie looked up. " Mickey?" she asked. She opened her eyes wider and shouted " Mickey!"

She threw her arms around him as if she would never let go. It was a happy reunion. Minnie wasn't dead Mickey found out and, Mickey was not dead Minnie found out. They kissed and hugged more. Goofy stood away thinking of how to get out when the door burst open and Donald flung himself onto the floor crying. Goofy ran over and picked him up. " It's ok Donald" Goofy said. Minnie and Mickey stopped their reunion and went over to them. " You're ok, we're ok." Donald looked up and stopped crying. He smiled and the whole gang hugged. They laughed together and forgot about where they were and what the situation was. Through the midst of their happiness they heard someone clapping. Their hearts stopped and they turned to the door. The Phantom Blot stood there clapping his hands and everyone in the room that Donald heard were behind him.

Chapter 14 The Gateway Between the Afterlife 

" Well done. You manage to break through my security." He said in a calm voice. Mickey looked down at Pokey.

" Why are you here?" Mickey asked astonished.

" Because I am a part of the PB organization." Pokey replied.

" Back to matters." The Phantom Blot said. He took two steps forward. " It would seem I have to upgrade my security. Well, let's just say that you won't be leaving here alive anyway. You will join one of your friends shortly." He added with a smirk. Mickey glared at him

" You leave Pluto out of this!" he shouted. He didn't want anything related to Pluto even being mentioned about him coming from the thing that stood before him. Minnie had to hold him back.

" Oh, I wasn't talking about him, I was referring to the one that came in with Ludwig, as Donald has just told me, that was killed." They looked stunned. Donald had never told him that Ludwig was here too. Minnie remembered however that the Blot could read minds. " I applaud you, Minnie, for remembering that. Excuse my lack of enthusiasm." He took another step forward and put his hands behind his back. " Ludwig and the other have been rounded up and you will join them shortly for all of your executions. One has already been dealt with." From his body, the victim was thrown out onto the floor and the Blot rearranged himself.

Donald gasped and bent down beside Daisy's limp, lifeless body. He looked up at the Phantom Blot. Rage was surging through his body. " She was unfortunate enough to come across me. She was no challenge. Hardly even worth the effort. But she did deserve to die."

That did it. Donald jumped up and in an act of rage, pulled out his sword and plunged it into the Phantom Blot. He thought he had killed him. He stepped back to admire his victory. The Blot looked down at the sword in his chest, examined it, and pulled it out again. It didn't even leave a mark. He looked at Donald and hurled it at Him. Donald fell down as the sword struck his arm. It clattered to the floor beside him, drenched in blood. Donald was crying the pain was so bad. The Blot looked up from Donald and glared at the others. " Goodbye." He said. Tentacles came out of his body and grabbed the others and pulled them inside the Phantom Blot, out of sight. A last one picked up Donald and sucked him in as well.

They were expelled from the body into a wall. They fell one by one onto the floor and each rubbed their head. Before they could look around the guards picked them up and chained them to the wall. Clarabelle and Ludwig were already there like the Blot had said. They wiggled and writhed as eels trying to escape. It was worse for Donald with his broken arm. The Phantom Blot stood before them admiring his trophies. He paced around them three times and finally stopped in front of Mickey. " You thought you could win didn't you?" he asked. " You actually thought you were going to walk out of here alive." He walked to the center of them and said " Welcome my happy guests." He proclaimed. Not even one of his guests was happy to see him. He glared at them. " Well you may not be happy but you are still my guests. And as my guests you get a great honor of not being killed by taking your body with you when you die. Isn't that wonderful?" He snapped his fingers and the wall behind him moved aside. A giant arch was there. A vortex of swirling color revolved inside of it. Across the top ancient script read " Gateway to the Afterlife."

" Wonderful isn't it?" The Blot asked. Everyone was too amazed to even answer. Ludwig especially was intoxicated by it. He had goggle eyes and his mouth was a gape in awe. " This is how I brought back all of your old foes that you se before you from the dead. You pass through there and you are instantly dead. However you may return to this world if you save two people that you love dearly and were taken from you not due to natural causes. No one has ever done it before of course." He laughed. And looked at everyone. They were shaking in their chains. He clapped his hand and Julius was thrown into the room. The Phantom Blot turned and strode over to him.

" You see you only have a couple of minutes, six to be exact, to retrieve your loved ones and most people have gone through there and never come out again. Now how man want to bet Julius here won't come out again?" He picked up Julius and readied himself to throw him into the gateway. They all gasped and pleaded for him not to do it. He laughed and whistled. In rushed the villains that the Phantom Blot had resurrected.

" Now, I will make you fight for the pleasure of going through first. Each of you will fight one of the people you see here." He said. He dropped Julius like a sack of potatoes. He straightened up and unlocked each of them. "Goofy fights Mrs. Duck. Minnie fights Magicia. Donald fights his father. Clarabelle fights Pete. Ludwig fights Mortimer. Mickey fights me."

Each went to his or her fighting partner and got ready to duel. Pete drew his sword and Clarabelle raised her staff. Magicia twirled her wand and Minnie but up her fists. Mr. Duck raised his two edged sword. " You can't fight me son." He said.

Donald raised his sword. " Try me." He responded. Mrs. Duck raised a pistol and Ludwig took out his big book of science facts for nerds. Mortimer powered up and Goofy pulled out his sword. Mickey did nothing as did the Blot.

" On three." He said. " Three!" he shouted but before anyone could attack Mickey had put up his hand.

" Wait!" he shouted. Everyone turned to him. Mickey's friends sighed a huge sigh of relief and the villains sighed a sigh of disappointment. The Blot looked at him. Mickey was breathing fast and heavy. Minnie was looking at him. What was Mickey going to do? " What if I go through the gateway first voluntarily and retrieve two of the victims. If I do get back, you let me and my friends go."

The Phantom Blot pondered this and said. " Fine, do it." Mickey gulped and positioned himself in front of the portal. He closed his eyes and ran headlong into it. There was a blinding flash and a giant boom as Mickey disappeared. The Blot snapped his fingers and his men attacked. " We have six minutes to kill so why don't we kill." He conjured a chair and sat in the center of the room while the place erupted in chaos.

Ludwig was blown into Minnie by Mortimer and Magicia moved in. Mrs. Duck was firing shot after shot at Goofy. He dodged them but Clarabelle was not as lucky. A stray bullet hit her in the ankle. She fell to the floor in pain and Goofy went to her to protect her. It was total chaos between Donald and his father. It seemed like whenever one of them got hit the other got hit back instantly. It was heated combat and no one could tell who was winning. Ludwig was blown into the wall and Minnie followed after. Their chains snaked down their bodies and bound them against their power to the wall. Mortimer and Magicia were proud of their work. Goofy was putting up a good fight and Clarabelle had gotten Ludwig's book and was smacking any one who came within four inches of them. Mr. Duck flew through the air knocking into Pete and falling to the floor. Donald ran up to him and was blown off of his feet by Mr. Duck's sword.

Three minutes later Goofy and Clarabelle were finally beaten by Pete and Magicia. They too were bound to the wall by their chains. Donald was the only one left. The combat was even worse now that Donald had struck a steady blow. The rest of the villains closed in on Donald and swallowed him whole and spit him out onto the wall, stuck there by their goo.

All hope was lost. Mickey still had half a minute left. " The Phantom Blot got up and surveyed the portal. He laughed. " He sacrificed himself for you even when it is hopeless." He said. He laughed again. Then in the portal three shadowy figures appeared. They started out small and then grew. They didn't need the Blot's scream of rage to tell them that Mickey was going to succeed.

Chapter 15

**Escape From the Castle.**

Mickey and his friends were getting closer and closer. They had five seconds to get out. Four, three, two, one. Boom! A column fell right in front of the gateway keeping it out of sight. Then a wall fell and the chains binding them released. The castle was falling apart. The Blot looked calm. Then Ludwig shouted. " The castle is moving positions remember." The group ran out of the room followed by the villains.

Halfway up the stairs a door opened and a tied up Pokey was thrown out. " That'll teach you to double cross us." Julius said entering the stairs. Goofy picked him up and ran full speed up the stairs. The stapes were collapsing every second. The villains easily climbed the walls, ceiling, floor, anything to get to them.

Minnie was tripping over her skirts. She noticed that Donald wasn't with them. She turned to get him but the floor fell away revealing the lava that lay below waiting for them. Minnie screamed and dodged a tower that came crashing through the ceiling. The villains jumped the hole and continued their chase.

Donald struggled up the stairs carrying Daisy's corpse. A step fell under him and he fell down to the hot rock right above the lava. Different pieces were falling into the lava and then taking off in a flash of red light. Donald jumped form each floating piece. He reached the other side and went to pick Daisy but she wasn't there. Red flashes lit up the night sky. Donald swore that for a second he saw a bright white light fly up too. He climbed the rocks and shrugged it off as lava exposure.

Ludwig ran through his old lab to the back of the room. He jumped and hugged his time machine. The floor and walls were falling apart so he quickly jumped in and started it up. With a whirling noise he was gone back to his own time.

Minnie and Goofy who was carrying Clarabelle. Ran across the bridge as it collapsed behind them. Minnie looked up to see the red flashes going up into the sky. A huge white light erupted from the ruins and Minnie stood in awe looking at it. Goofy tugged her along as the bridge disappeared.

They met up with Donald on the other side and ran together out of the area. A giant boom came and energy rings flew everywhere. " Is it over?" Julius asked peeking out of Goofy's bag. Donald nodded. It was over.

Chapter 16

**Continuing On**

They bumped over every bump in the road. Julius had used his friends to get them a wagon to travel. " So, the Blot has lost his control of France and any other countries he had. The night we came to rescue Minnie he pulled all of his troops back to himself leaving them to regain control." Goofy said. They were going down a small trail. Donald had been suggested to be governor of Denoment. Goofy and Julius were going to return to Spain and Minnie was to go back to France and continue ruling.

" But the Blot is still alive" Julius said. " He can never be killed." The group was silent still. Minnie looked out her window thinking about how Mickey had risked his life to save them and killed himself in the process. Donald looked out of his window and thought of Daisy and how she had died because she tried to do a heroic deed.

" Well," Goofy said. " We must continue on with our lives." Minnie and Donald looked at each other and looked at Goofy.

" You didn't lose anything by this. I lost my love. My husband." Minnie said. Goofy frowned.

" I lost my wife, Goofy. We can't let go of it as fast as you can." Donald said. Goofy frowned more and looked at them.

" I lost my best friend." Goofy said. " I'm just as hurt." Julius waved for the driver to stop. They were at a crossroads. One way lead to Denoment. The other to Spain. The other lead to Paris. Donald and Minnie got out and grabbed their luggage. The wagon went on to Spain. Goofy and Clarabelle looked out the window and waved good-bye. Minnie and Donald were left at their own paths to follow. Donald grabbed his bag and started down the road. He looked back at Minnie and nodded. Minnie looked at her own path. She looked at the sky and closed her eyes. She opened her eyes and took her first step down the road to Paris. The path to rebuild her kingdom. The path where Mickey would not walk ever again. The path out of the darkness and into the light.


	2. Three Musketeers 3 REMASTERED

**The Three Musketeers 3 **

**Prologue**

The sun was mercilessly beating down on the town of Denoment, Italy. Fishmongers were yelling at the top of their lungs, telling all of the people of their fish. Old women with bad eyesight were hanging their finest wool blankets up for everyone to see. Horse's hooves clip clopped over the cobble stone pavement pulling a wagon of raw fruit as it went. Little girls played with their dolls in the meadows and boys played with their swords in the fields. Yes Denoment was a peaceful town.

A kindly old woman was busy laying out her vegetables when a shadow was cast over her. She looked up blinking in the sunlight. " Can I help you?" she said. She was now adjusting her glasses so she could see properly. Without warning the figure tossed the table forward knocking the lady senseless. It turned around and knocked a soldier off his horse. It mounted the horse with great speed, so great that no one knew what had happened till they saw the person grab a torch and set a nearby house on fire. Everyone was in panic as the person continued to burn everything in its way. Soldiers were galloping in by the dozens but the figure was also good with a sword that he knocked them all over. Then the figure reared its horse and one soldier caught a glimpse of the figure before the horse's hooves connected with the man's face. The horse and rider fled the area setting more houses on fire.

The fire raged through the city like wind. Soon everyone was left without clothes, food, or shelter. Some little girls helped the solider up. Many men and women crowded round the soldiers asking who it was. Suddenly the solider remembered the face he had seen and said, " I know who it is." The crowd became as silent as death.

" Who was it?" a man asked. The Solider straightened up.

He wiped the blood from his face " It was Mickey Mouse!" He cried.

Chapter 1 A Grave Misunderstanding 

The wind whipped past Mickey's face as he raced through the woods. Dead twigs snapped beneath Frank's hooves. Donald was pulling up beside him. Minnie was coming up beside him on his right. They were laughing. Finally Minnie bounded in front of them and halted. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy followed suit. " Well boys," Minnie smirked, " looks like I won again." She smiled and turned to continue on the path. Greg was breathing hard from all the running that he had done. The air soon became mist " How do you do it Minnie?" Goofy asked. He and Greg had pulled up next to her. Minnie smiled and jeered. She loved making the boys respect her. Not that they didn't before. They trampled onward into the mist and rounded stones appeared.

" Where are we Mick?" Donald asked. He was the coward of the group and was being cautious as usual of where they were heading. He gulped and looked at Mickey who was just as curious as he was.

" I don't know." Mickey exclaimed. He looked around. Stooping low he looked at one of the stones sticking out of the ground. He squinted. It was hard to see but he knew what it was. " It's a gravestone." He said. " We're in an old Italian graveyard." He looked around and the mist seemed to fade away. They moved forward at a retarded state.

Goofy was now looking intently at the grave wondering what they said. " Hey guys." He said. " Look at this." Everyone jumped down from their horse and walked to the grave Goofy was standing if front of. Mickey got down on one knee and looked at the grave.

" That's odd." He said. " This grave belongs to Donald's dad." He looked up at Donald. Donald oddly looked as if he was trying hard to forget something. Then he opened his eyes wide and knocked the grave over. " Donald! Why did you do that?" Mickey asked.

" We should not be here." Donald said. " We are cursed now. We must leave before we get bad luck." He jumped onto his horse and whipped the reigns. In an instant he was gone. The others blinked and followed Donald's lead.

Mickey didn't catch up to Donald before three miles. " Why did you kick the grave over?" he asked. Donald looked quickly over his shoulders to see the others.

He turned to Mickey. " It was going to fall over anyway." He stated. This was true. The grave had been very loose and would have knocked over with a feather. " I just finished the job. Listen Mick. Some things are better off left undisscused. What happened here?" The woods were severely burned. Some fires were still going on but everything else was encased in black soot.

People were wandering about, moaning and crying over their losses. Kids held onto their mothers crying and in nothing but tattered and ripped clothes. Whatever had happened here it had left everyone and everything destroyed.

One kid looked up and screamed, " IT'S HIM!" Instantly a crowd surrounded them and pulled Mickey to the ground, pulling and tugging at him. " Let's show him how it felt." one said. " Let's burn him like he did to our village." Another said. Finally Donald and Goofy had broken through the crowd to Mickey.

" What do ya got against Mickey?" Goofy asked. Mickey was shaken by the tussle.

" He set fire to our village and killed some of us too." A woman said. She had black cheeks and was burned on the arm.

" He didn't do that." Minnie said. " He was with us the whole time. She was holding Mickey by the forearm, ready to pounce if the crowd got wild again.

" Show us then." A man explained. " Do you have evidence?" They crowd jeered at this. Minnie stood bewildered looking at the man. There was no way to get proof. " See the old elder. He knows all. If he says that monster is innocent then he is and we'll leave you alone."

" Where can we find this elder?" Mickey asked. The man glared at him and pointed at the hill. Sure enough there was an old burnt-up house at the top. It had a crocked roof and part of the siding was falling off. He gulped and he and the others went up to see the elder.

Dead branches littered the ground. Goofy looked back at the others. Mickey and Minnie were in step with each other but Donald was lagging behind. He kept looking left and right as if expecting to find a frightening image or person. His head was up against the collar of his shirt. Goofy was puzzled why Donald was acting like this. BAM! Goofy ran right into the side of the house. Rubbing the side of his head Minnie and Mickey passed into the elder's house.

Goofy had to duck low to enter. The house was cramped and some fire was still burning on the floor. The place was in shambles. Bookcases lay splintered and burnt on the floor. Pieces of the roof had fallen in and different bottles were broken everywhere. " He's not here." Mickey said lifting up a bookshelf to check. Suddenly a pair of hands appeared over the top of it. Mickey yelled and slammed the bookshelf down.

The thing flew in the air and struck right in Donald's rear end. He yelled and ran around the room knocking more things over till finally Goofy had pulled the thing off. Donald started plucking the needles out of his butt, wincing after each one was pulled. Goofy turned the thing over to examine it. All he saw was a bunch of needles. " Gee." He said, " wonder what this thing i.. yaaaaaaaa!" He dropped the thing on the floor. It rolled over and jumped to its feet. It spun around to everyone and they all stared at it. It was a small porcupine with a green x going across it's nose. He wore a multicolored necklace around his neck

" What business do you have here?" he asked. It kept keen eyes on them. He looked from one to the other. He stopped for a while when he saw Donald, who was still plucking needles out of his butt. " Is that you, Donald?" he asked. He put his fist down and picked up a strange stick that had weird markings all over it and that went over his head. He waddled forward to see better. Donald looked up and nearly hit the man. He backed up a bit as the man stood on his tiptoes to see his eyes.

Suddenly the man gasped and hit Donald on the head with his staff. " You got some nerve coming back here." He said. He kept hammering Donald with his staff harder, and harder, and harder.

" Hey stop!" Mickey said, " What has Donald done to you?" Mickey stepped in front of Donald to protect him from the porcupine's blows.

" He is not welcome here." The porcupine said. " He is nothing but a nuisance and a fugitive. He should never have returned." The porcupine slid under Mickey legs and continued to hit Donald. Mickey pulled him off of Donald.

" What do you mean 'returned'?" Minnie asked. She was crouching down at Donald's side tending to the bruises he had sustained. Shakily, Donald got up.

" He's right." Donald said. " I shouldn't have returned." He thrust his arm away from Minnie catching her off guard. He rubbed his bottom and hung his head low.

" Probably didn't tell you why he's not welcome, eh?" the porcupine said. "He's as sneaky and conniving as his father this one." He turned on his heels and went over to a strange looking table with a pile of books at one end. It was a circular table with three legs and a weird glowing ball sunk in the middle of it. He stretched out his paw to the top half of the ball and instantly all of the light pouring in from the holes vanished, leaving them in complete darkness except from the glow of the orb. Mickey moved closer to the table, wary not to stray to close in range of the porcupine's staff.

" What do you mean by Donald being sneaky like his dad?" he asked. He sat down on a pile of wood. Goofy sat down beside him. Minnie had successfully dragged Donald out of the shadows and sat him down on the floor next to her. The porcupine turned on them quickly. His eyes, however, were showing pity and sorrow.

" You do not know his past, do you?" the porcupine asked. He put his staff next to the books and raised his head to their eye level. " It is a sorrowful one I'll tell you. We have not forgotten what it was. We have thought Donald was dead. I will only share this tale if Donald allows me to show it." He turned to Donald.

" No, don't tell them." Donald pleaded. The porcupine frowned.

" I asked if I could show them." He said. Without warning he rammed Donald on the head with his staff. Instantly Donald froze. His eyes centered and stared off into space. He lay down and instantly the world buzzed. It was as if a million bees were buzzing around everyone's ears. The ball in the table started to spin and grow. The ball kept growing and spinning till it stopped when it was the size of a modern day big screen TV. It was huge. The buzzing stopped and the ball began to show a picture.

It was fuzzy at first but then it sharpened and Minnie could see a small boy playing with a ball. Not even one years old, he rolled it around and bounced it. He giggled now and then. His mother was behind him picking flowers and stuffing them in a basket. Mickey was first to realize what they were seeing. They were looking into Donald's past.

Chapter 2 

**A Murderous Past**

Donald rolled his ball and giggled with glee. He rolled in the grass till his feathers were green. Mrs. Duck watched her son play smiling a small smile. She kept looking up at the road to see who was coming. Donald came over to give his mother a hug but she pushed him away and kept watch on the road. Mickey thought to himself why she was so mean to Donald. She smiled when he was playing. Why push him away?

Soon, she got to her feet. An old man was running down the street with a map case under his shoulder. The label read 'Plans for the Garelis Denoment.' She waved nicely to the man. He waved back. She turned to make sure Donald wasn't looking. As the man passed she reached into her basket and drew out a pistol.

She aimed at the man's heart and pulled the trigger. The man was dead. She stowed the pistol back in the basket and ran to the man. She took the case and stowed it also in her basket. Goofy gasped. She had just killed an innocent old man.

Donald turned to his mother. He had red berries smudged all over his face. His mother took him by his hand and hurried off. Then the picture faded and the ball shrunk back into the table. Donald blinked and shook his head roughly. He blinked again. Everyone except the porcupine was looking at him. The porcupine sighed.

" Now you see what his past was like." He said. " Excuse my manners. I believe I haven't told you my name. It's Poky." He hopped off of his chair and strode over to Donald.

" Sir, why is Donald's father not welcome?" Goofy asked. Poky turned to him.

" He, as his wife, was another mass murderer." He answered. " A curse was put on his grave after we killed him and his wife. If anyone walked past the grave without either kicking, spitting, or shooting it would be cursed and hung."

" That explains where Donald got his temper." Minnie said. Donald glowered at her. She turned from him.

" You killed him." Mickey said looking down at Poky. " When did you do that? Why did you do that?" Poky sighed.

" I hoped this day would never come." He said. " Once again I will have to show you." He turned around to Donald, but Donald was ready. He jumped back before the staff could hit him.

" No more." Donald shouted. " I don't want them to know my past. I don't want to relive that night either. It has haunted me ever since. I can't relive it again." He had tears in his eyes. Poky looked down and then said.

" You must relive it only once more. Then it will haunt you no more." He smacked Donald on the head as before and once again Donald blanked out. The buzzing started again and the ball grew. This time they saw Donald sleeping in his crib. Outside in the hall his parents were talking.

" They know what we did." Donald's father said. " They know that we ruined the Garelis Denoment. They will be here shortly."

" Then we shall fight." Mrs. Duck said. " We may have not been able to kill the king but we can kill his subjects."

" Shhhhh!" Mr. Duck said. " I hear them." Sure enough there were voices drifting up from the downstairs. Light was dancing outside the window. Banging and clashes came from outside. Mr. and Mrs. Duck both ran downstairs, Mr. Duck pulling out a huge musket on the way. Suddenly Mickey felt himself fall into the memory. He was now part of Donald's past. Oddly he and the others just glided along following Donald's parents. When they reached the bottom of the stairs they gasped at what they saw.

Mr. Duck was shooting at the men that came through the door. Mrs. Duck was stabbing the men that came close to her husband. The men carried pitchforks and knives, and cages filled with snakes, spiders, and other dangerous creatures. One man rushed upstairs holding a cage of snakes. Another followed with a gun in one hand and a cage in the other.

Donald was crying in his crib. He wanted the loud noises and scary images to stop. The men burst into his room letting the snakes and spiders run loose. One man sets fire to Donald's toys and pushed his crib over, laughing with joy all the while. Donald screamed and cried even more after he hit the ground. A snake slithered up to him and brought his jaw down. Donald rolled away only to fall on a spider. The spider hissed and snatched at Donald. Donald screamed and cried the loudest that he could. A man picked him up and ran from the room.

Just before the man could go down the stairs Donald bit him. The man yelped and grasped his hand tight. Fire burned in his eyes as he looked at the distraught Donald on the floor. " So that's what you want, eh?" he said. " Well you can just go down the hard way." He picked Donald up and threw him over the railing. Donald flew through the air, momentarily stopped crying for the shock of falling. He hit the ground hard. He had tears in his eyes again as someone tied his hands up.

Donald was thrown outside where a makeshift guillotine stood. Mr. Duck was already bowed at it and the blade came rushing down. Is head fell into the basket. Donald sobbed now. The chief spoke. " Whoever goes past his grave and doesn't kick, spit, or vandalize it in some way will have a curse put on them.". Now it was Mrs. Duck's turn. The blade came swishing down just as before. Her head was now with her husband's.

Donald was poked in the back with a pitchfork as he wept uncontrollably. The people had solemn faces as he was led forward. Some showed sympathy for him. He was placed at the chopping block. His head was forced down. He could see the heads of his parents in the basket. They were bloody and deformed. His tears grazed their cheeks. The chief raised his hand to pull the lever. Goofy had tears in his eyes. The chief grasped the lever. Minnie was now crying on Mickey's shoulder. The chief tugged at the lever. " STOP!" Mickey shouted. He was staring at Donald. Everyone turned to look at him. He was now permanently part of Donald's past.

**Chapter 3**

Past Revelations 

All eyes were on the three figures that had appeared into their midst. The chief was paused with his hand still on the lever. One pull and Donald is dead. Mickey looked everywhere. Minnie and Goofy did the same. Were they looking at them? " Don't pull that lever," Mickey pleaded, " He is innocent." If he was in Donald's past he had best help out with the situation.

" So you are with these heathens, " the chief said. The chief had let his hand go of the lever. Donald was still crying with his head on the block. Mickey edged closer to Donald. Minnie had let go of Goofy's arm, which she had been clinging to. There was a pitchfork lying on the ground. If she could just get it she could help get Donald free.

" He is just a baby," Mickey pleaded. He inched even closer to Donald. Goofy looked at Minnie. She had bent down, unnoticed, and reached for the pitchfork. Mickey was closer to Donald then ever. He was inches from him, and the chief none the wiser. " You can't kill a baby."

Mickey was now in easy reach of Donald. The chief pondered this. Murmurs rose in the background. Minnie had her hands on the handle. Goofy looked at Minnie then at Mickey. " Ohh!" Goofy shouted. All heads turned to them. " Mickey's distracting them while Minnie is going to save Donald. Good plan Mickey! Make sure no one finds out though." All of the people rushed at them. The chief raised his hand and pulled the lever but Mickey was too fast for him. He grabbed Donald and ran headlong into the rush.

Fire flashed everywhere as Mickey rushed through. People tore and grabbed at his shirt. He was poked all over and was stumbling. Finally he felt every hand leave his body. Donald was tucked in his arms crying again. He opened his eyes to see Minnie furiously swinging the pitchfork she had found. They were slowly backing away from the mob now. Mickey, seeing his chance ran, like the wind into the woods. Goofy and Minnie held the mob off as long as they could but they were quickly over-taken. Minnie dropped her weapon and grabbed Goofy's hand. "Run!" she shouted.

They ran for six hours till they finally settled down, the mob had left them and they were tired. Mickey took his coat off and wrapped Donald in it. Donald lay peacefully snoozing. " How did this happen?" Minnie asked. " One minute we are looking at Donald's past and then we are in it." She stared at Mickey and slumped down into the roots of a tree. Mickey remained kneeling over Donald and Goofy just stood up with his hands in his pockets.

" Well, if this is Donald's past we should get him to a nice warm house." Mickey suggested. A twig cracked behind him. He paid it no mind. " We should keep going till we get to France, the place where I met him. Get him to an orphanage." Minnie spun around. Looked behind herself for a moment and then redirected her attention to Mickey. Goofy looked around too. He felt like there was something there.

" We should leave." Goofy suggested, " Minnie take Donald." Mickey stood up and Minnie crossed over to Donald and picked him up. He was half awake. Goofy unhooked his sword and flashed it behind him. He spun on the spot looking wildly around. " Run," he whispered. He was deadly serious, Mickey could see it. He too drew his sword. Minnie walked behind Mickey at a fast pace. " Run." Goofy said. There was panic in his voice and Donald was stirring. More twigs cracked and the sound of paws came swiftly into the glade. It came from all around. Flashes of white streaked around them. More twigs broke and suddenly, to Mickey's horror, an abundance of howls came up from the flashes of white. More white flashes joined and Goofy shouted, "RUN!"

Mickey and Minnie ran up the slope of the glade but before they had reached the top four white streaks came pelting down on them. They backed up to the middle where there were twenty-five more streaks running around. Goofy was slashing his sword with all of his might but to no avail. Finally the flashes stopped and the wolves stood still, growling with their teeth bared and stomachs empty. Minnie was panicking and Donald was crying again. The wolves closed in and snapped at their dinner. Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy were so close together that they could not move. They were outnumbered two to twenty-eight.

Suddenly a light appeared on the horizon. And a group of people came charging down. The wolves howled and sped off. The men made sure that the wolves were gone before checking on the group. " Are you alright?" the man said. They nodded. His eyes glanced the baby in Minnie's arms. " What are you doing with a baby out here? These woods are dangerous. Have you never heard of the Forksten woods before?"

The Forksten woods. They were Frances eastern border. They had come to France after all. It was usual for men to hunt white wolves here too. They drove them into Italy. " We want you to take this baby to an orphanage in Dijon." Mickey said. " It needs good care and we really want you to take him instead." He handed the baby over to the man and with a jerk Mickey understood that he would.

" Come men." The man cried. " We are done here. We have an errand to run in Dijon." He turned on his horse and he galloped away. The men left too and they were left alone without Donald.

" Why take him all the way to Dijon?" Minnie asked. " That is so far away." She looked at Mickey and Mickey just smiled.

"That is where Donald's first orphanage was." Mickey answered. Then they slumped onto the ground, buzzing sounded, and they went blind for a moment. Mickey fell to the floor and lay there with his arms flailing.

" Mickey!" a voice said. Mickey couldn't see. " Minnie! Goofy! Wake up you guys!" Mickey saw the blindness leave him. He lay staring at a lop-sided roof and dingy old walls. He looked to his left to see Donald shaking Minnie awake. His eyes were wide with fear. The fear he had seen in Donald's eyes as a baby and suddenly it clicked.

He was back in the elder's house. He was in the present. They had returned from Donald's memory after he had awakened. He looked again at Donald the fear was still there as he sat over Goofy trying to wake him. The fear was from that night, twenty-eight years ago. " I do not know why that happened." The elder said. " I am sorry for that."

" That's okay." Mickey said leaning up. He finally understood why Donald was so scared of the world. And suddenly, for a moment, Donald seemed like the bravest person that he knew.

Chapter 4 The Stranger 

Mickey got to his feet. Minnie got up after a while. " What happened to Donald after that night?" Minnie asked. Goofy sat up and hit Donald in the head.

Pokey cleared his throat. " Donald went to an orphanage, as you requested. The orphanage was burnt down and the kids moved to Paris. Donald wandered out one day after seeing a certain puppy called Pluto. His owner came along who was Mickey. Then, I'm sure you know the rest." He sat down and Goofy stood up. He swayed a little and finally got stability.

" So, the reason we are here is to find out why everyone suspects that I…" Mickey started

" Committed arson on our town?" Pokey said. He was oddly relaxed, as if he had known why they had come here before they had arrived. He noticed this and said. " I saw the whole thing from my window." Mickey looked around. The house was burnt up, but not all burnt. He was so far away from the village that he would have at least had time to run before the fire got here.

"Well I know you're innocent." Pokey said. " Let's go down and explain that a person that looked like you had done it." He went to the ball again and laid his hands on it. He closed his eyes and pushed on it. Blue rings ran up and down his arms and one by one entered the ball. Slowly the ball glowed bright blue and a shadow of the ball rose into the air. It floated there for a few moments and lifted out of the house. Pokey picked up his stick and led the way back to town.

After they had explained everything to the people, they seemed to forgive Mickey. Their horses were returned to them and everyone gathered to bid them good-bye. Minnie smiled and laughed as people came to hug her. Donald was left out in a corner looking as depressed as ever. She stretched out her hand to comfort him and was stopped short as an axe flew right in front of her hand, just grazing the tips. Goofy looked out and the town ran screaming in different directions as more axes fell from the sky. A stranger in a black cloak was preparing to throw another when Goofy charged at him, followed closely by Mickey. Minnie was ducking under a cart and Donald was hiding in a barrel. Pokey stood there examining his claws.

The man fled in a whirl of his cloak and Mickey and Goofy raced after him. Minnie grabbed Donald and hurried after them. They ran through the woods at top speed following the man's every step. After a while the stranger came to an open field with nothing but rocks ahead. The stranger leapt onto the rocks and climbed over the edge. Goofy, not stopping ran full speed at him. Mickey was first to notice that the man had jumped over a piece of ground instead of running right up to the rocks and climbing. He grabbed Goofy's garments and tried to stop him but it was too late. The ground caved in under Goofy and he plunged into a tunnel. Mickey let go of Goofy and floundered about to grab something to pull himself up. He looked down to see Goofy howling into the darkness. He grabbed and grabbed but all he caught was dirt that kept spilling into the hole. Finally he fell headlong into the darkness. A boulder was pushed over the hole blocking their exit and Mickey was out of sight.

Minnie and Donald arrived to see the stranger put the rock over the hole. He looked up and saw them. He franticly climbed up the rest of the rocks and went over the side. Minnie and Donald ran to the rock and tried to push it off. It was too big. They couldn't get it off. Minnie was sobbing. She ran up the rocks to catch the man. She pulled out her sword and jumped over the edge, prepared to hit the man that had killed her husband. He wasn't there. The only suspicious thing was a giant, black rock and more rocks. She hit the rock breaking it into five pieces. He still wasn't there. Donald came panting up shortly. She slumped to the ground and sobbed her heart out. Donald picked her up. " Come on," he said. " We had better go now." He led her away. He too was sad that his friends were gone. He knew he would never see his friends again. They were dead. Never to come back.

As they disappeared over the edge. The rock put itself together again. This time into a giant, black blob. It swiveled around and melted. It drained down the rocks and combined at the bottom. It took the shape of a man. A tall mouse with a long nose and a cunning smile. It pulled out a coin with the letters PB next to a curved line with dots next to each curve. He pushed the blob and it filled the coin. " It is done. The goof and Mick are in the tunnel system now. You go from here now." Mortimer said. With that he melted into a blob and disappeared to his new master.

**Chapter 5**

**In the tunnel system**

Mickey wailed as he plunged further into the darkness and hurtled around the bends and turns of the tunnel. Finally he slammed hard onto the cold stone floor of something. He twisted and turned as he flew through the air and hit a wall. He slumped to the floor and shook his head. He was in a dimly lit room with huge gapping holes in the walls of this circular room, and standing near one was Goofy.

Goofy was staring intently on the carvings above the hole. He hadn't even noticed that Mickey had come tumbling headlong into the room. " What are you looking at Goofy?" Mickey asked still rubbing his head. Goofy didn't move. "Please don't tell me that you have a secret past too Goofy," Mickey was thinking. He walked over to him and looked at him. He didn't look like Goofy at all. There was no vacant expression in his eyes and the he actually seemed to be thinking! Since when does Goofy think for himself? He usually hurts himself that way. Mickey backed away. This guy was clearly smarter then Goofy and he could be more dangerous too. Without warning, Goofy turned and grabbed Mickey's shoulder.

" Come on!" he said. " I have something I want to show you." And just like that, he flung Mickey into the hole and he jumped in after. This time Mickey went down feet first which was a lot nicer then having your face bash into every wall when you turned. He glided down every slope and turn and soon he noticed the walls got damper. Where were they heading he thought? He turned his head to look at Goofy. Mickey turned again to face forward and got splashed in the face by water.

They were now sliding in a water tunnel. Their ankles were only grazing the water. Quickly a flood of more water came from ahead and this time their knees were only just above. Another flood of water came down from someplace closer. Finally Mickey found himself swimming in water. He was scrambling through the water as another flood almost drowned him. The water was coming from some crack in the ceiling. He looked around but it was too dark to see anything. He drew his sword and waited for another flood of water to come. And from the ceiling a few inches in front of him, water spewed out. He quickly thrust his sword into the fissure there with all of his might. He pushed up and a deluge of water pounded on top of them, drowning them. Mickey swam up with his sword in front of him chipping at the stone. Finally he broke through and was pushed up with the water. He took deep breaths and looked around. Millions of people were staring at him. He looked at where he was and saw that he was in the center of a huge elaborate fountain. Most of the water had escaped after Mickey had created a huge hole in the center of it. His pushed himself out of the hole and wadded through the shallow water. He climbed over the edge and was greeted by a small pug dog. He had a mad look on his face and Mickey could tell that he was in trouble.

Chapter 6 The House of King Julius 

" What are you doing in my fountain and what did you do to it." The pug shook a finger at Mickey and turned purple in the face. Mickey rung out his cloak and looked down at the pug. For such a short pug he had a big temper. He should meet Donald sometime.

" Well, you see, me and my friends were going to investigate a Beagle Boy clone attack when…" Mickey started. The pug slammed on Mickey's foot and smacked him in the shins (It was as high as he could reach).

" What does this have to do with you RUINING MY FOUNTAIN!" the pug shrieked. He roared and was quickly silenced by the people gasping and whispering. Mickey turned to see Goofy walking through the water in a regal manner. He was walking with the air of an aristocrat. He stepped out and was instantly greeted by fine ladies. They kissed his fingers and he was led by the pug, whom was wearing a stunned expression. " Since when have you been hanging out with the Duke Feliz con mas?" the pug asked.

Mickey looked down at him. " What?" he asked. He was as surprised as the pug to see Goofy a different person. Now that he thought about it, he had forgotten about Goofy until he came out of the fountain.

" You have brought the most celebrated Duke in all of Spain back to this country." The pug said. " And right to his majesty King Julius." The pug jumped and grabbed his hand and shook it fiercely. He then scurried away to Goofy who was sitting in a huge crowd. Mickey pushed and shoved his way through the crowd. Goofy was sitting in a big comfy chair with millions around him, listening to him, and drinking in his knowledge. Goofy had changed. Before Mickey could get his hands on Goofy, Julius whisked Goofy away down a corridor. The crowd broke up and went their separate ways. Mickey went after Goofy and the king.

Mickey was turning a corner after them when he caught some of their conversation. " Now why have you returned at this dark hour?" Julius asked Goofy. He was walking slower now that he assumed that everyone had gone and they were in secret. " Last time I saw you, you were being carted away to France as a wee little boy. Now look at you. You've grown. Have they returned? Have you come to warn us? Have you discovered the location of the PB organization! Please let us know. I have heard of your past encounters with them. Are we in grave danger again?" The king had gotten on his knees now and was looking at Goofy who had turned to look down on him.

" In order" he said. He spoke with a more regal tone. He looked around and said, " Yes last time I was in good old Spain I was being carted to France, I have grown, I believe they have returned, I have not come to warn you, I have not discovered the location of the PB organization, and I do believe not only Europe is in trouble this time," He paused and leaned in close, " The whole world is at this weapon's mercy now." Julius turned white and sank back on his knees. Goofy opened the door behind him and walked in. Julius was left there contemplating this. Mickey bit his lip and snuck behind a tapestry waiting for Julius to leave. He didn't. Instead he closed his eyes and took out a cross, kissed it, and put it back in. In an instant the lights dimmed and the corridor went dark. He could see nothing, only hear. He pushed as hard as he could to the wall behind the tapestry. He felt an evil presence in the room suddenly.

" Well" a voice said. It was the most sinister voice he had heard in his life. It was deep and bold. " He is here, I feel it."

" He is here." Julius said in a shaky voice. " He knows nothing of the PB organization. He has not come here to warn us but by accident." Mickey could sense the other man was getting even angrier.

" So I will finish it myself shall I!" the man roared. " You are pitiful. Useless. I guess your friend, Eduardo, will pay for your defiance."

"No! Please, all right I will do it." Julius sounded defeated. The other man laughed a high- pitched cold laugh.

" I will not believe you for a minute." The other man said. " You have a spy in this very area. Not just any spy. You have placed Mickey Mouse behind the tapestry to my left thinking I wouldn't know and he'll save Goofy for you. You forget I can sense a person for miles, I can read men's thoughts; I can feel their emotions. And right now Mickey is thinking that how could he know this and a lot more questions that I'm sure he will never get the answers too." The tapestry was torn off of the wall and Mickey was blasted into the air. He was stationed there unable to move and could see nothing but darkness. He looked around. He could only make out Julius's pale skin in all of the darkness. The other man was gone. So Mickey thought. He was shaken violently and something overcame him. He could not breathe or see. Something sharp stabbed him and he felt the blood leave his body. He was blown to the ground and fell into the deepest sleep of his life.

Mickey woke in the morning. He was lying on the ground of the corridor. Goofy was sipping his drink in a chair beside him. " Good morning, Mickey." He said. He put his cup down on the table beside himself. He looked grave. Then again he had changed since last night. Mickey tried to get up but found a bandage on his chest keeping him from bleeding or bending. " Did you hear? King Julius was murdered last night in this very hall. You were kept here so that they could see if you had done anything. You see your position could give away if you had killed him or not. My own thought."

Mickey got up. " What happened to you Goof?" Mickey asked. " You've changed since we came here. Why did you change?"

" First I prefer to be called either Duke Feliz con mas or Duke Feliz. And if you would like me to put my condition in terms you can understand then I shall. My memory is back and better then ever. Now what did happen, Oh yes it all started on a nice April day."

Chapter 7 An Apple for Life 

" Well I was only two and I was one of the smartest kids in the country. I was already in third grade. Yes I know a two year old that is in third grade became a man that can barely count to three. Well I was young and hanging around my parent's apple orchard. I loved to play there everyday. I named every tree that was there. I had a favorite I called Bonita." Duke Feliz (Goofy) said. He was stirring his drink with a spoon and Mickey had managed to sit down in a chair next to him. He was still in pain from his wound.

" So I was frolicking in the meadows when a huge storm hit. I ran to my home to wait it out but it never ended. The storm was the PB weapon. It lasted for three weeks. Finally I was so mad that I ran outside one day and said 'Hey storm please stop so I can play beneath Bonita's leaves and frolic in the meadows.' The storm roared and all of a sudden an apple hit me right in the temple. I fell down unconscious and the storm raged even more. The next thing the whole apple tree Bonita flew at me and squashed me like a bug. I had gotten what I wanted but the results were not satisfying. I was beyond help and was carted off to France for extreme medical help. I lost a memory and my brain was damaged. The Spanish writing in the cave sparked my memory but I am afraid that if I wander out of Spain my brain will become once again as it was. Futile"

Duke Feliz got up and paced the room. " I do not believe you killed King Julius but I do assume that you had something to do with it." He turned to Mickey and pointed to the tapestry lying on the ground, which Mickey had been lying on.

Mickey looked at it and remembered the previous night in the corridor. The other man. The man who Mickey couldn't see. Next to the tapestry was a spear with blood smeared on it. Maybe Julius had tried to kill the man but struck Mickey instead. That would explain why the man had dropped him. " Where is Julius's body?" Mickey asked. Goofy turned to him.

" That's the mystery now isn't it." Duke said. " The body was never found. Too tell the truth, I only kept you here to have you all to myself. I shared my past now you tell me what happened in this hall last night." Goofy towered over Mickey and all escapes were lost. Mickey was cornered in the chair he now sat in. So Mickey explained everything, how he followed them, how he had heard of the man's orders to Julius, and finally the attack on his life. Goofy rubbed his chin. " That man could not have gotten in last night unless there is another way into this fortress. All of the ways are guarded. Then again he could have gotten in the same way as we did." Goofy paced around and went down the hall to the grand hall they had popped in the day before. Goofy strode over to the cracked fountain and took out his sword. He thrust it into the floor around the hole in the middle and chipped away at it. Mickey stood looking at him. Goofy was hard at work.

After a while he jumped up and beckoned Mickey to him. Around the hole Goofy had cleared the entire floor revealing more weird symbols around it. Goofy was so happy he could have jumped up to Saturn. " Do you see? These symbols are saying something. They mean something. The fountain is here for a reason. To block the hole. Someone or some organization has a direct pipeline the all of the major countries in Europe but why? That is what I hope to discover by going down the hole and following it to its source." Goofy jumped feet first into the hole. Mickey made an attempt to clamor in but Goofy made a motion for him to stay. " You are wounded and too weak to travel. Stay here and recuperate first. Make sure no one covers up this hole and when you are fit again follow me." With that he ran down the tunnel and climbed up the slope out of sight. Mickey did as he was told and stayed there. His only concern was where Goofy was going exactly.

**Chapter 8**

**Back to the Homestead**

Minnie and Donald trudged on the road back to France to regroup at the castle. Donald was looking down at his feet kicking all of the rocks in his path. He was very sad by the events that had happened yesterday. In the middle of the night their horses had come lose and run off on them so they were left to walk. Minnie was just as sad as Donald that Goofy and Mickey were gone. The gang just was nothing without them. " Don't worry Minnie." Donald said. He had mustered up the courage to finally say something to lighten the mood. Minnie glanced at him and smiled. He was thoughtful and was nice even if he said the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Donald patted Minnie on the back. " They'll be alright just you see. Now come on I'll race you to the top of the hill." Donald and Minnie clamored to the top of the hill laughing. Donald came in first but his victory was short lived. At the top of the hill you could see Paris and all of it including the castle and the view was horrible. The city was changed. It was black and smoke and smog rose everywhere. Flying black birds with purple eyes and green slime dripping from their beaks swarmed the skies. Giant wolf like things were running through the streets leading the citizens in chains behind them. One citizen cleverly got free of his bonds and ran for his life up the road Donald and Minnie were on. Minnie pulled Donald behind a rock as the prisoner came near followed by a wolf. The citizen looked back for a moment and that was all it took. The wolf turned into a glob like thing and arched through the air and reconstructed in front of the prisoner. The citizen yelled as the wolf opened its mouth wide and chewed his bones and flesh to nothing. The wolf turned and slunk back to the city, which was now a terror zone.

Minnie gasped. " What happened here?" She got up from behind the rock and surveyed her kingdom with sad eyes. As if losing Mickey wasn't enough now her beloved kingdom was under someone else's rule. Donald came to her side and looked down on the scene.

" Where are Clarabelle and Daisy? I hope they are all right." He said. True they had come back to regroup with them. Where were they? How had the musketeers let this happen? Where they all dead? Donald raced headlong into this catastrophe hoping to find his wife. Minnie tried to stop him but all hope was lost. She couldn't let herself be caught. She stayed by the rock hoping for his return. She prayed he would be safe. She took her provisions out and set up camp a little way down the backside of the hill, out of sight by the city.

Donald stealthily ran through the city. He made sure not to be found by the wolves or spotted by the birds. He ran across the bridge to the musketeer headquarters. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the building. It was a pile of rubble. The building was a heap of brick and the stables had been burned. The corpses of the horses inside of it were everywhere. Donald sank to his knees and cried, cried as if this was the first time in his life, as if he was trying to cry a river of tears, as if he was trying to tell the world that he was the saddest duck alive. He put his hands over his eyes and fell back on his knees. Daisy was gone. Clarabelle was gone. The musketeers were over. The end of the world had come and France was the first to feel it.

Donald got up and limped over the bridge and jumped up on top of the railing. He looked down bellow at the water. It ran black with gas and evil. "There is nothing left for me to live for." He thought. " Daisy, Clarabelle, Goofy, Pluto, and Mickey are all dead. Maybe I should join them" He put his arms out and jumped off the bridge into the water. He hit the water and inhaled as much water as he could. He lost his breath and he sunk like a rock to the bottom and went up to his maker.

Chapter 9 The End of It All

Minnie had a fire roasting and chicken cooking. Donald had been gone for nine hours and she was getting worried. She wrapped the blanket around her tighter. The wind was picking up and she was cold. The night air was still and stale. It was almost too quiet. She took her stick ad poked the chicken. It fell off of the pan and fell into the fire extinguishing it. She sighed if only Mickey was here. She reached into the recesses of her cloak and pulled out a picture of her and Mickey on their honeymoon. He was so handsome. She cried and her tears hit the picture. She touched it with her hand to just pretend that she could feel him and bring him back to her. She cried again and her tears fell onto the picture again.

Suddenly a giant green glowing glob fell on it and Minnie spun around to see one of the evil wolves behind her. The birds were circling the clearing and cawing. Wolves were closing in and they were joined by guards that were wearing strange flexible armor and four sided staffs. They closed in on her and up in front of her rose a very tall, very handsome duck. It couldn't be. She was looking at Donald's father.

" Hello queen Minnie." He said. " I believe that you have noticed that your wonderful city has been made even better by the PB organization with the 'PB' weapon. Well we will now take you into custody. Guards." The men closed in and Minnie quickly thought of a plan. She kicked the hot coals and chicken at Mr. Duck and tried to run while he was distracted. Mr. Duck dodged the coals and the chicken literally went right through him. He roared and rose over Minnie. He turned into a blob like the wolves had and encased her in his confines. He reverted back to normal and said " She has been captured inform his superior, the PB, that we have one of the four that he has requested and that I will bring her to him at once. The group melted and slinked of to do their duties and Minnie was now within the hands of the PB organization.

Chapter 10 The War Approaches

Mickey's wound had healed and he could now bend over. He had taken to roaming the corridors and listening to the walls. Goofy had left a month ago. It was September going into October. He had become worried that Goofy was captured by the mysterious PB organization. Since the king's supposed murder the security had been bumped up and since the days ended later this month everyone was to be in his or her chambers by 6:00. Mickey was no exception. He was locked in his bedroom unable to get to the fountain. He didn't know if the hole was even there. He paced his room worrying if he would ever get in it again.

Another month passed and the security wasn't getting any looser. October 11th had come around and Mickey was nowhere nearer getting in that hole. He was sent to his bedchamber as usual but this time when the door was closed he jabbed a fork he had stolen in the slit between the doorframes. The lock did not click as usual and the guards took no notice of this. Mickey sighed a huge sigh. He waited a little and grabbed his garb and sword. He snuck out the door and stole away to the great hall. He panted and ran to the steps of the fountain. His chances were shattered. The hole was covered up by solid concrete. " No" he said. He wadded into the water and sunk to his knees. " I lost Goofy, I lost Donald, and I lost Minnie. Pluto where are you?" He sobbed. " My luck has run out. I lost everything I care about. Why did you go Pluto? Maybe I…was…not cut out…to be. a …musketeer." He took his coat off and looked at the symbol on it. " This was never meant for me, it belonged to someone else. I was never cut out for this. I am better at being a king. This is not my war too fight." With that he dropped his coat into the water and stood up. He unhooked his sword and tossed it in to. He turned and wadded back out and went straight to his room.

Mickey was sitting in the hall sipping his drink as usual. Guests mingled around him and Mickey paid them no notice. He sat there looking weary. It was October 17th and all was calm. Then the ground shook violently. Everyone was thrown to the ground and all tables crashed to the floor. Mickey got up. The lights went out and the room went cold. Black goop was seeping through the walls and ceiling. Mickey was so scared he couldn't move, as could anyone else. The door burst open and an assortment of weird black animals ran in followed by weird men with black skin, flexible armor, and four sided staffs. Mickey out of instinct reached for his sword but it wasn't there. He had thrown it in the fountain only feet away.

He didn't have time to get it so he ran with everyone else hoping to escape this disaster. The walls were turning black and Mickey ran wildly through the corridors. He ran onto the balcony and slammed the door shut and locked it. Just as he stepped away from it Black muck covered it and spilled onto the balcony. Mickey turned to see the worst sight he had ever seen. The entire village and countryside, foothill and hayballe, had been turned to black and altered to an evil place. The soldiers and wolves ran everywhere. Birds circled the skies and water ran black. " What happened."? Mickey said not expecting an answer but he got one.

" We have changed it to fit our views Mick. Hey, where's your uniform anyway?' Pete said. Mickey turned to see Pete behind him. He was just as the goo, able to take a different shape.

" How can you do that?" Mickey asked. He backed up to the ledge and looked shocked at Pete.

" Well because we were freed by him. He only saw fit that we have his powers as to not mess up his plans again. You see, we like to call all of us "rehabilitated" people of the PB organization after our founder and leader. He goes back a long way he does. He gave me the idea to kidnap Minnie at the opera in the first place. Then he rounded up Magicia and Mortimer and gave us that plan too. Of course we all died after that incident and he brought us back to do this one last thing for him. And if we don't well let's say I won't retain a definite form" He stretched his hand to grab Mickey but Mickey ducked and Pete blasted off part of the railing. Pete then lunged at Mickey. Mickey dodged but fell right into the hole in the railing Pete had made. He teetered on the brink of falling. " See, these powers rule!" He thrust a last blow at Mickey and Mickey fell, fell down three miles to the disaster the PB organization had unleashed on the world.

Chapter 11 The Headquarters of the PB

Minnie was thrown into the cell and tied to the ceiling. She kicked her legs in the air but couldn't touch the floor. " Let me go." She screamed. Her dress was in tatters and this was the first breath of air she got since they took her.

" They usually don't let you go." Voice over in the dark corner said. Minnie spun around in the air to see. Out of the shadows came a small pug dog with a bent crown on his head and hip marks over his face. " I'm king Julius of Spain and you are?" He went as far as he could to Minnie before the chain around his ankles and chest stopped him.

" I'm queen Minnie of France." She said. The pug dog was so short she had to look directly down to even notice him.

" Figures, you disobeyed him too, huh. Wouldn't let your country fall to him." Julius sat down and crossed his arms " I'm in here cause I retaliated on him with a spear. He grabbed a mouse and was going to kill him when I stuck him. The spear went right through him and he gobbled me up instead. What did you do to him?"

Minnie looked stunned. Could this mouse have been Mickey even for the slightest chance is him. " Do you know what the mouse was called? Did he have a goofy looking dog with him?" she asked. She was hoping, praying that it was.

Julius scratched his head and said. " I believe Duke Feliz con mas said his name was Mickey. Of course the Duke did suffer a bad brain damage and supposedly his name was changed to Goofy." Minnie laughed. They were alive. They were in Spain. " Why are you so happy?" A sudden running up the steps interrupted their conversation. A tall, broad- chested, black thing with white pupil less eyes stood in the doorway. He entered and closed the door behind him.

" Welcome Minnie, I've been waiting for you to come." The man said. " I hope you are happy with the renovation of your country while you were out." He paced up to Minnie and looked at her with his cold, merciless eyes. " Was Julius bothering you? He has been a naughty boy he has." The man strode up to Julius and whispered something in his ear. Julius froze and went pale. " Now to business. Where are your friends? Where is Mickey."?

Minnie looked at Julius ho was mouthing " Don't even think or tell him about it."

The man looked back and glared at him. Julius hushed.

" Spain it is then." The man said and turned back to Minnie. " Thanks for helping Minnie. It just so happens that Spain was about to be 'blotted'. I'll have my men go there at once." The man snapped his fingers and in walked a solider.

" Yes, your honor." The solider said. He bowed low and the man stood straighter.

" My little friend here says that it would be wise to send Pete and a battalion to Spain and blot it." He waved his hand for the man to leave.

" As you wish, Phantom Blot." The solider said and he ran from the room. Minnie stared. The Phantom Blot founded the PB organization. The weapon that changed France was his power. She was looking at the man who had caused misery to so many people, and liked it.

" Yes actually I do like to cause misery." The Blot said. He turned to Minnie. He winked at her and melted through the floor. Minnie turned to Julius who was gone too. She had let him down and now Julius and Mickey and Goofy were going to pay for it.

Chapter 12 Ludwig to the Rescue

Donald opened his eyes. The world was blurry and he could only make out shapes. Two heads were spinning in his view. " Donald, wake up." One of them was saying. The image sharpened and he saw Daisy and Clarabelle. He was in a cramped, steel room.

" I think he's coming around." Clarabelle said. Donald sputtered and at least a gallon of water came rushing out as Daisy pushed on his chest. He shook his head and sat up. Clarabelle put her hand on his back to keep him steady. " What happened?" Clarabelle asked.

" By where we found him I would say he drowned." A man said. Donald and Daisy looked up at Ludwig who was sitting in a chair with many whirling and flashing buttons. Levers where above his head and in his hands. Ludwig was pushing pedals with his feet and the steel room moved to the right a bit. Donald got up with his shaky legs and walked to the window in front of Ludwig. He was under water.

" What is this place?" Donald asked.

" Ludwig says it's a submarine." Daisy said. She came up to him and stood beside him. Clarabelle followed suit.

" How is this thing even moving?" Donald asked. Every head turned to Ludwig. Ludwig looked at them and sighed.

" Ok, confession time." Ludwig said. He turned again to them. " I'm from the future. Ok. I never meant to get caught up with Pete or the Phantom Blot. I came back in time to see the French Revolution but something went wrong and I ended up here. However I landed in the Phantom Blot's hands and he took the time machine and forced me to do what Pete wanted. So this submarine is actually a machine of the future."

Daisy and Donald and Clarabelle looked at him. " Who is the Phantom Blot?" Daisy asked.

" The Phantom Blot" Ludwig stated, " Is the cause of all this pain. The reason we are fleeing the city through the rivers. Who changed the world and will keep changing it till he rules every living things mind. He started the PB organization after himself. He took some of himself and put it in his soldiers and the people he resurrected from the dead. He only took his loyal followers back. I'm sure Donald knows all about him."

Donald looked at him. " I didn't hear of him." He stated. Then he thought, what if he got his hands on Minnie, he had never seen her again after he jumped off the bridge. Then he thought what if he had gotten Goofy and Mickey too. " We have to save them. He's bound to have them somewhere"

" That's why we are heading west." Daisy said. " That is where his castle is. We have the same idea that you do."

" There is a secret underwater cave that leads to a little spring. Then we have to travel more then a thousand miles and the worst part is that he has the ground attack covered by guards and other vial creatures. We can't fly into it because he also has the sky covered by different birds and flying beasts."

" And even if we are able to tunnel under it he has reinforced floors and sensors that can detect even the slightest movement." Daisy concluded. Donald frowned. He may never see his friends again. He let one tear fall. Daisy hugged him. " Don't worry, we'll save them. Right Ludwig."

" You bet." He said. " After all those years helping him I have a little inside secrets. The Blot is a clever man, if you can call it a man or even anything. See seven years ago, when Goofy found us in the library, we were searching for the coordinates of his castle. See, his castle changes positions every three days. Right now if I'm correct, which I am 100 of the time, it should be on its third day. We need to get there before midnight when it will change positions again. Now I have these uniforms right here that we can use to get in." He held up a couple of costumes that looked identical to the ones the soldiers wore. Donald, Daisy, and Clarabelle slipped them on and Ludwig steered the ship up the hole and popped out of the hatch onto dry land. They ran as the sun set to meet their destination.

Chapter 13: Meeting in the Pub.

The doors slammed open as some dark knights entered the bar. The arm went cold and the knights sat at the bar. They began talking between one another. All eyes were on them, especially the eyes of a dog sitting a couple seats away. They did not order any food or drink, not that anyone was willing to take their order. They conversed silently then left, the dog following their trail.

The dog gazed out of the door and saw the knights climb aboard a large prison carriage. Through the bars, the dog could see a small mouse sitting on the floor. "Mickey." Goofy said to himself. He ran to a horse as the cart began to pull away. Goofy rode after it, hoping beyond hope that he could save the friend he had left in danger.

Chapter 14 Mickey's Renewal

Mickey woke up after the carriage hit a bump. He looked up and saw daylight flowing through a small hole in the wall. He was riding in a carriage that was being driven by a guard. The carriage went over every bump and turn making Mickey bump his head and get nauseous. He rolled up in the corner wondering how this had happened. All he remembered was falling off the tower and Pete laughing at him. " This is what I get, ' he said to himself. " I was a bad musketeer, a bad husband." He cried silent tears and felt bad about himself.

Suddenly the carriage stopped and he heard shouting. He turned to where the guard would be sitting and he clearly heard the clash of a sword and the crack of a whip. Mickey was flown backwards as the carriage took off at full speed. After thirty minutes or so the carriage stopped an the driver got off of the driver seat and walked around to the back and opened up the door. Mickey blinked in the light. He looked at the man and sighed. It was Goofy. He was smiling and breathing heavy. " Come on." He said. " We're almost there. We'll have to walk the rest of the way." He turned to leave but Mickey didn't move. " Well, come on now we have to get going." He wasn't the smart man he was in Spain. He was normal again. Mickey frowned.

" I'm not coming." He said. " I don't do that stuff anymore." Goofy frowned.

" Now what happened to the mouse I used to know?" Goofy asked. " You were fearless. The bravest person I know."

" That was before I found out, I'm not a real musketeer. I let you down. I let them seal the hole. I let Donald and Minnie down. I don't deserve to go." He slumped back in his little ball and looked away.

" But you are a musketeer." Goofy said. " You didn't let me down. I don't care if they sealed the hole. You were recuperating. You did the best you could I think. And you couldn't help it if the tunnels separated us. Look at it; everything was out of your control, anyone's control. Now come on let's say we save our friends."

Mickey looked up at Goofy. Goofy was holding out his hand for Mickey to take. Mickey smiled and took the helping hand. They sped off into the east to take the challenge that lay before them.

Chapter 15 Minnie's Rescue

Minnie had been chained up for a day without food or anything. She was on the brink of death and all she could do was think of what she could have done different. She was breathing heavily and the room was going blurry. She closed her eyes but they wouldn't open no matter what. Her breathing was slowing and she was going away.

Ludwig and he gang had cleared the front gate and were inside. Now they had to keep their disguises and find Minnie. The palace was huge. The courtyard was at least three miles long. They walked casually to the front door, which stood black and ominous in front of them. Ludwig turned. " Now once inside there will extremely little light. The Blot and everything else he has created or " modified" can see in the dark so there will only light where there is writing since they can't read print. The Blot can but not the others." So he opened the door and they entered. The place was as Ludwig said complete darkness except for two torches on the wall and a window at the end of the hall that let in the moonlight.

They walked carefully through the hall making sure not too bump into anything. Clarabelle almost knocked over a vase. Donald did. Daisy was tripping over her feet every few seconds. Ludwig seemed to be the only one capable of maneuvering without the light. " Hurry." He said. " We must save the captives before the castle moves or we might end up in a different continent." They quickened their pace.

Goofy ducked behind a rock and motioned for Mickey to go to the rock next to him. Mickey crept up next to Goofy liked he motioned too. They pecked over the rocks to choose their next strategy. Two guards were patrolling the area. Goofy rubbed his head and tried to think. The guards could take any shape or form so this would be difficult. " Here's the plan." Goofy whispered. " Now this strip of land is the only thing connecting the castle to land and the rest is surrounded by lava so I say we climb under the bridge to the other side." Goofy pulled out eight sharp star shaped pieces of metal with straps on them. They slipped them on and crept to the edge of the bridge and slowly climbed under it.

The heat was intense. Lava bubbled ten feet below. They climbed under it for some time, slowly at first and then picking up the pace a bit. Goofy put his hook down and dropped, only hanging on by his foot hooks. He yelped and the guards bobbed toward them. They dripped down from above and appeared as birds before them. With a loud screech one flew at Goofy. The other flew at Mickey and it was a mixture of weird goop and fur.

Donald was creeping along a corridor alone. They had split up to find Minnie faster. He heard voices from somewhere. He walked to the nearest door and put his ear to it. " So I don't think Mickey will be coming out of it anytime soon." Pete joked. The room erupted with laughter.

" I'm really going to miss him. I'm just glad that I could at least impersonate him for once and get him in trouble." Mortimer joked. Once again the room erupted in laughter.

" Well I carted away his wife. The Phantom Blot is most pleased. She did have a huge impact on his downfall. Get it?" Mr. Duck said. Laughter went again.

" Hey I helped ruin France too. Don't start taking all the credit." Magicia snapped. No laughter came this time. Mr. Duck harrumphed and sipped his drink.

" Now my husband has done a lot of work in his life." Mrs. Duck said. " He killed more people at age twelve then I did my entire life." Everyone laughed. Donald counted his fingers. Pete. Magicia, Mortimer, his parents (they were with PB). Everyone evil they had faced was in that room except for the Beagle Boys but they were henchmen, not worthy of recognition. He was tuning to go when he heard another voice.

" Well I distracted them for all of you." The voice said. " Without my help they would have been on their way back to France before you could finish "blotting" it. Before you could find the tunnel. Before even you could rally your troops."

" Oh please." Pete said. " Don't flatter yourself, Pokey." Donald was stunned. Pokey, the Porcupine from Italy, was part of the PB organization. The glowing thing with the ball. It must have been a trick he learned from Magicia. That must have been the way he contacted Mortimer. He must have spread the rumor about remaining Beagle Boy clones. It all made sense. He ran down the hall and opened the first door he saw not caring if he got caught or if he was killed. He needed to cry, let it out. His parents were villains, his friends were lost, a friend a traitor. He flung himself onto the floor of the room and cried. Someone in the room came over and picked him up.

Mickey and Goofy soared through the air on the backs of the birds. Goofy was silently crooning them to obey him. They flew past every window in the palace looking for Minnie. Finally in the tallest tower they found her. They jumped from their birds onto the ledge and broke through the glass. Mickey rushed to Minnie who was almost dead lying on the floor. Mickey cut through the cuffs and held her in his arms. He did have something to live for after all. She regained life. Goofy popped open his canteen and downed it into her throat. They had made it in time. Minnie looked up. " Mickey?" she asked. She opened her eyes wider and shouted " Mickey!"

She threw her arms around him as if she would never let go. It was a happy reunion. Minnie wasn't dead Mickey found out and, Mickey was not dead Minnie found out. They kissed and hugged more. Goofy stood away thinking of how to get out when the door burst open and Donald flung himself onto the floor crying. Goofy ran over and picked him up. " It's ok Donald" Goofy said. Minnie and Mickey stopped their reunion and went over to them. " You're ok, we're ok." Donald looked up and stopped crying. He smiled and the whole gang hugged. They laughed together and forgot about where they were and what the situation was. Through the midst of their happiness they heard someone clapping. Their hearts stopped and they turned to the door. The Phantom Blot stood there clapping his hands and everyone in the room that Donald heard were behind him.

Chapter 16 The Gateway Between the Afterlife

" Well done. You managed to break through my defences. I must be sure to take these faults into calculation." He said in a calm voice. He snapped his fingers and the birds outside crumpled in a blaze of black fire. The room grew colder and thick, metal bars rose from the floor. Mickey looked down at Pokey.

" Why are you here?" Mickey asked astonished.

" Because I am a part of the PB organization. Why else?" Pokey replied.

"But we trusted you!" Mickey ragged. "I thought…"

" Back to matters." The Phantom Blot said. He took two steps forward. " I am very grateful for your visit, but I am afraid that I am not in the mood for guests at the moment. You will join one of your friends shortly. They're just dying to see you again." He added with a smirk. Mickey glared at him

" You leave Pluto out of this!" he shouted. He didn't want anything related to Pluto even being mentioned about him coming from the thing that stood before him. Minnie had to hold him back.

" Oh, I wasn't talking the mutt. I was referring to the one that came in with Ludwig, as Donald has just told me, that was killed." They looked stunned. Donald had never told him that Ludwig was here too. Minnie remembered however that the Blot could read minds. " I applaud you, Minnie, for remembering that. Excuse my lack of enthusiasm." He took another step forward and put his hands behind his back. " Ludwig and the other have been rounded up and you will join them shortly for all of your executions. Of course, there is that one…" From his body, the victim was thrown out onto the floor and the Blot rearranged himself.

Donald gasped and bent down beside Daisy's limp, lifeless body. He looked up at the Phantom Blot. Rage was surging through his body. " She was unfortunate enough to come across me. She was no challenge. Hardly even worth the effort. But, what is the harm in killing someone? Hardly any, I would say."

That did it. Donald jumped up and in an act of rage, pulled out his sword and plunged it into the Phantom Blot. He thought he had killed him. He stepped back to admire his victory. The Blot looked down at the sword in his chest, examined it, and pulled it out again. It didn't even leave a mark. He looked at Donald and hurled it at Him. Donald fell down as the sword struck his arm. It clattered to the floor beside him, drenched in blood. Donald was crying the pain was so bad. The Blot looked up from Donald and glared at the others. " Goodbye." He said. Tentacles came out of his body and grabbed the others and pulled them inside the Phantom Blot, out of sight. A last one picked up Donald and sucked him in as well.

They were expelled from the body into a wall. They fell one by one onto the floor and each rubbed their head. Before they could look around the guards picked them up and chained them to the wall. Clarabelle and Ludwig were already there like the Blot had said. They wiggled and writhed as eels trying to escape. It was worse for Donald with his broken arm. The Phantom Blot stood before them admiring his trophies. He paced around them three times and finally stopped in front of Mickey. " You thought you could win didn't you?" he asked. " You actually thought you were going to walk out of here alive." He walked to the center of them and said " Welcome my happy guests." He proclaimed. Not even one of his guests was happy to see him. He glared at them. " Well you may not be in the best spirits; but you are still my guests. And as my guests you get a great honor of not being killed by taking your body with you when you die. Isn't that wonderful?" He snapped his fingers and the wall behind him moved aside. A giant arch was there. A vortex of swirling color revolved inside of it. Across the top ancient script read " Gateway to the Afterlife."

"Wonderful isn't it?" The Blot asked. Everyone was too amazed to even answer. Ludwig especially was intoxicated by it. He had goggle eyes and his mouth was a gape in awe. " This is how I brought back all of your old foes that you see before you from the dead. You pass through there and you are instantly dead. However you may return to this world if you save two people that you love dearly and were taken from you not due to natural causes. No one has ever done it before of course." He laughed. And looked at everyone. They were shaking in their chains. He clapped his hand and Julius was thrown into the room. The Phantom Blot turned and strode over to him.

"You see you only have a couple of minutes, six to be exact, to retrieve your loved ones and most people have gone through there and never come out again. Now how many want to bet Julius here won't come out again?" He picked up Julius and readied himself to throw him into the gateway. They all gasped and pleaded for him not to do it. He laughed and whistled. In rushed the villains that the Phantom Blot had resurrected.

" Now, I will make you fight for the pleasure of going through first. Each of you will fight one of the people you see here." He said. He dropped Julius like a sack of potatoes. He straightened up and unlocked each of them. "Goofy fights Mrs. Duck. Minnie fights Magicia. Donald fights his father. Clarabelle fights Pete. Ludwig fights Mortimer. Mickey fights me."

Each went to his or her fighting partner and got ready to duel. Pete drew his sword and Clarabelle raised her staff. Magicia twirled her wand and Minnie but up her fists. Mr. Duck raised his two edged sword. " You can't fight me son." He said.

Donald raised his sword. " Try me." He responded. Mrs. Duck raised a pistol and Ludwig took out his big book of science facts for nerds. Mortimer powered up and Goofy pulled out his sword. Mickey did nothing as did the Blot.

" On three." He said. " Three!" he shouted but before anyone could attack Mickey had put up his hand.

" Wait!" he shouted. Everyone turned to him. Mickey's friends sighed a huge sigh of relief and the villains sighed a sigh of disappointment. The Blot looked at him. Mickey was breathing fast and heavy. Minnie was looking at him. What was Mickey going to do? " What if I go through the gateway first voluntarily and retrieve two of the victims. If I do get back, you let me and my friends go."

The Phantom Blot pondered this. Mickey thought he heard him say under his breath, "Like father, like son." He shook his head and looked at Mickey. " Fine, do it." Mickey gulped and positioned himself in front of the portal. He closed his eyes and ran headlong into it. There was a blinding flash and a giant boom as Mickey disappeared. The Blot snapped his fingers and his men attacked. " We have six minutes to kill so why don't we kill. I can use the amusement." He conjured a chair and sat in the center of the room while the place erupted in chaos.

Ludwig was blown into Minnie by Mortimer and Magicia moved in. Mrs. Duck was firing shot after shot at Goofy. He dodged them but Clarabelle was not as lucky. A stray bullet hit her in the ankle. She fell to the floor in pain and Goofy went to her to protect her. It was total chaos between Donald and his father. It seemed like whenever one of them got hit the other got hit back instantly. It was heated combat and no one could tell who was winning. Ludwig was blown into the wall and Minnie followed after. Their chains snaked down their bodies and bound them against their power to the wall. Mortimer and Magicia were proud of their work. Goofy was putting up a good fight and Clarabelle had gotten Ludwig's book and was smacking any one who came within four inches of them. Mr. Duck flew through the air knocking into Pete and falling to the floor. Donald ran up to him and was blown off of his feet by Mr. Duck's sword.

Three minutes later Goofy and Clarabelle were finally beaten by Pete and Magicia. They too were bound to the wall by their chains. Donald was the only one left. The combat was even worse now that Donald had struck a steady blow. The rest of the villains closed in on Donald and swallowed him whole and spit him out onto the wall, stuck there by their goo.

All hope was lost. Mickey still had half a minute left. " The Phantom Blot got up and surveyed the portal. He laughed. " He sacrificed himself for you even when it is hopeless." He said. He laughed again. Then in the portal three shadowy figures appeared. They started out small and then grew. They didn't need the Blot's scream of rage to tell them that Mickey was going to succeed.

Chapter 17

**Escape From the Castle.**

Mickey and his friends were getting closer and closer. They had five seconds to get out. Four, three, two, one. Boom! A column fell right in front of the gateway keeping it out of sight. Then a wall fell and the chains binding them released. The castle was falling apart. The Blot looked calm. Then Ludwig shouted. " The castle is moving positions remember." The group ran out of the room followed by the villains. As they dashed upwards, Minnie stole a glance backwards. The Gateway had collapsed in on itself. She gave a gasp of shock and covered her eyes as she ran onwards.

Halfway up the stairs a door opened and a tied up Pokey was thrown out. " That'll teach you to double cross us." Julius said entering the stairs. Goofy picked him up and ran full speed up the stairs. The stapes were collapsing every second. The villains easily climbed the walls, ceiling, floor, anything to get to them.

Minnie was tripping over her skirts. She noticed that Donald wasn't with them. She turned to get him but the floor fell away revealing the lava that lay below waiting for them. Minnie screamed and dodged a tower that came crashing through the ceiling. The villains jumped the hole and continued their chase.

Donald struggled up the stairs carrying Daisy's corpse. A step fell under him and he fell down to the hot rock right above the lava. Different pieces were falling into the lava and then taking off in a flash of red light. Donald jumped form each floating piece. He reached the other side and went to pick Daisy but she wasn't there. Red flashes lit up the night sky. Donald swore that for a second he saw a bright white light fly up too. He climbed the rocks and shrugged it off as lava exposure.

Ludwig ran through his old lab to the back of the room. He jumped and hugged his time machine. The floor and walls were falling apart so he quickly jumped in and started it up. With a whirling noise he was gone back to his own time.

Minnie and Goofy who was carrying Clarabelle. Ran across the bridge as it collapsed behind them. Minnie looked up to see the red flashes going up into the sky. A huge white light erupted from the ruins and Minnie stood in awe looking at it. Goofy tugged her along as the bridge disappeared.

They met up with Donald on the other side and ran together out of the area. A giant boom came and energy rings flew everywhere. " Is it over?" Julius asked peeking out of Goofy's bag. Donald nodded. It was over.

Chapter 18

**Continuing On**

They bumped over every bump in the road. Julius had used his friends to get them a wagon to travel. " So, the Blot has lost his control of France and any other countries he had. The night we came to rescue Minnie he pulled all of his troops back to himself leaving them to regain control." Goofy said. They were going down a small trail. Donald had been suggested to be governor of Denoment. Goofy and Julius were going to return to Spain and Minnie was to go back to France and continue ruling.

" But the Blot is still alive" Julius said. " He can never be killed." The group was silent still. Minnie looked out her window thinking about how Mickey had risked his life to save them and killed himself in the process. Donald looked out of his window and thought of Daisy and how she had died because she tried to do a heroic deed.

" Well," Goofy said. " We must continue on with our lives." Minnie and Donald looked at each other and looked at Goofy.

" You didn't lose anything by this. I lost my love. My husband." Minnie said. Goofy frowned.

" I lost my wife, Goofy. We can't let go of it as fast as you can." Donald said. Goofy frowned more and looked at them.

" I lost my best friend." Goofy said. " I'm just as hurt." Julius waved for the driver to stop. They were at a crossroads. One way led to Denoment. The other to Spain. The other led to Paris. Donald and Minnie got out and grabbed their luggage. The wagon went on to Spain. Goofy and Clarabelle looked out the window and waved good-bye. Minnie and Donald were left at their own paths to follow. Donald grabbed his bag and started down the road. He looked back at Minnie and nodded. Minnie looked at her own path. She looked at the sky and closed her eyes. She opened her eyes and took her first step down the road to Paris. The path to rebuild her kingdom. The path where Mickey would not walk ever again. The path out of the darkness and into the light.


	3. Story So Far TTM3

Time for another Story So Far check-up. My final book is going through its last edit before finally beginning deemed Completely finished but for now, enjoy these little hints.

**." Ludwig said. He turned again to them. " I'm from the future.**

**See, his castle changes positions every three days.**

**Ludwig ran through his old lab to the back of the room. He jumped and hugged his time machine. The floor and walls were falling apart so he quickly jumped in and started it up. With a whirling noise he was gone back to his own time.**

**12 23 07**


End file.
